This post is 63.25% faster than the post about Apple’s M3.

So there.

Windows really wanted to talk about Co-pilot, its implementation of artificial intelligence, or AI, as we are now required to call it. Very smart people inform me that what we are calling AI is not, in fact, artificial intelligence, but let’s not go there. We shall stick to the widely-held understanding:

“What does AI do?”
“No idea! But it’s cool.”

As part of the “new era of AI,” Windows and many computer manufacturers have launched new laptops equipped with the magic Co-pilot button. Well, when I say launched, one can order these machines now for delivery in June. Oh, how very Apple.

Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo all have new offerings on their websites, as does Windows, of course.

I’ve had a quick squint. Purely for research purposes, naturally. Am I shopping? No. Really. I’m not. At all. Definitely not. NO!

If you want Windows hardware and software combined, you have two options: the Surface Laptop or the Surface Pro. The Surface Pro is a 2-in-1 tablet to which you can attach a keyboard and use it as a laptop. At the risk of making Apple fans furious, it’s the equivalent of an iPad Pro that ran MacOS.

The machines are built on Snapdragon chips - which it is claimed are the equivalent of Apple’s M series of chips. So, these are ARM-based PCs. At this point, it’s worth noting two points.

1. These are not the first ARM PCs. The last generation of them were, {checks notes}, “not very good”. Performance was poor and much inferior to more traditional chipsets.
2. Not all software works with ARM setups. Worth bearing in mind.

If it was mentioned once, it was mentioned one hundred times. The new machines outperform Apple’s M3. The laptop has enough battery to play video for twenty hours, and the Pro for fourteen. Wise heads nod and say, “Let’s see what the reviews say a month or two from now.”

Companies will company, I guess. For most people, a comparison between the Snapdragon X and the Apple M3 is entirely meaningless—certainly, it is for me. I have some Apple M1 stuff, and I’ll wager it is not as quick as either the M2, M3, M235, Snapdragon X Elite Superfast Generation 101 or whatever any future chips will be called.

However, I imagine that some decent competition in the marketplace can only be good for consumers.

One more cautionary note - Co-pilot is going to work as your own on-device assistant. Forgive some oversimplification, but the computer will store everything you do on the machine and make it searchable.

“Where did I see that Surface Pro coupon?” Co-pilot will find it for you. Right next to the record of you logging in to the bank...

Hmmm...What could possibly go wrong?