If every PC is going to be an AI PC, they better be as good at all the things trad PCs can do
Microsoft's Copilot+ machines suck at one of computing's oldest use cases
COMMENT A significant cadre of computer users is waking up to the fact that Microsoft's first volley of Copilot+ machines – notebooks capable of local AI processing – simply aren't very good at a bog-standard use case.
The Arm-powered devices throwing in the towel when it comes to the most popular video games wouldn't have been a problem had Microsoft not touted the Copilot+ platform as "the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built," having "the best specs" on "all the benchmarks," according to CEO Satya Nadella.
Who loves anything with the "best specs" on "all the benchmarks"? It's gamers. And yet Microsoft's claims are coming under fire.
"With powerful new silicon capable of an incredible 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), all-day battery life and access to the most advanced AI models, Copilot+ PCs will enable you to do things you can't on any other PC," Microsoft gushes.
Except reliably play a popular video game? No amount of TOPS will help you when Copilot+ PCs are locked into the Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, and the world's best-loved software category is predominantly developed for Intel and AMD's stomping ground of x86-64.
According to analyst house Omdia, some 1,300 games have been tested on Microsoft's first wave of AI PCs – which includes models from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung – and only about half managed to run to an acceptable standard.
This is because playing a game compiled for the x86-64 CPU architecture on Arm would have to be run through an Intel emulation layer, which really is a worst-case scenario in terms of the software running as intended.
The only solution right now is game and anti-cheat software devs agreeing to recompile their binaries for Arm, and while Epic Games, the home of Fortnite, is said to be discussing better compatibility with Qualcomm, let's not pretend the sector is going to start doing that overnight.
It's not a great look for Microsoft, which, if you recall before Big Tech went all dewy-eyed and wobbly-kneed for generative AI, is also a massive games publisher and developer, first as Microsoft Game Studios, now Xbox Game Studios. Don't let the division's name deceive you – all its output is also released for Windows PC.
Just last year, Microsoft finally closed on the largest tech acquisition of all time, splurging $69 billion on Activision Blizzard – another massive games publisher and developer – after years of negotiating with competition regulators over the possible harms the merger could cause the industry.
Then OpenAI waltzes in with some superficially impressive yet deeply problematic technology, Microsoft suddenly has amnesia about its megabucks investment, starts pumping billions into Sam Altman's company, then releases machines that cannot reliably perform a basic function.
It reminds us of Facebook, which was so convinced of Mark Zuckerberg's idea of the metaverse that the company was renamed Meta. The metaverse faded into irrelevance as soon as investors started believing AI was the next big thing in computing. Short-termism manifest.
Yesterday, Redmond announced its new Copilot+ Surface models, and not once is "gaming" mentioned, instead hyping them up for "business potential." Sure, no one ever bought a Surface for the express purpose of playing games, but that doesn't mean people won't install them, and why shouldn't they?
Let's be real. It's 2024. Games aren't just for children anymore; the majority are explicitly made for adults. Real life isn't wall-to-wall business and enterprise, regardless of that representing the bulk of Microsoft's revenues. But even in the world of work, people are unsure what AI PCs are actually for.
Earlier this year, Forrester Research said the platform still lacks a "killer app" that would make any AI PC an essential business tool. Windows Recall was a disaster, and apart from a built-in chatbot that might do some work for you – poorly – what is there that vanilla PCs don't already have?
The concern is that the industry is going in hard on the AI PC concept without caring whether it's something consumers want or need. Worryingly, Canalys reckons that by 2027, it'll be impossible not to buy an AI PC. Likewise, Dell proclaims that, eventually, "every PC is going to be an AI PC in the longer term."
Yes, Intel and AMD Copilot+ PCs are coming, which might spell hope for people who also want to use their bleeding-edge computers for something other than maximizing shareholder value, but shouldn't Microsoft have made Copilot+ PCs as performant and versatile as claimed out of the gate? Otherwise, all you have is a gold-plated Chromebook with none of the apps. Windows on Arm failed miserably, yet Microsoft went straight back because, what? Qualcomm and Arm have nice AI stories?
It seems that Microsoft's neglect of the most popular form of entertainment in this instance boils down to: All work and no play makes Satya a rich boy. ®