My week so far with Copilot+ PC laptops: they might be the future, but not
for the reasons Microsoft wants

Date:
Sat, 22 Jun 2024 11:00:49 +0000

Description:
Ive been using a Copilot+ PC laptop for most of this week and AI still feels just a gimmick. But there's a lot to like.

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This week we saw the launch of Copilot+ PC devices essentially, Windows 11 laptops that come powered by Qualcomms new Snapdragon X chips that feature an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) thats specifically designed to handle complex AI (artificial intelligence) tasks.

The idea of on-device AI is certainly very interesting (as is the technology behind it) and the benefits are compelling: you dont need an internet connection, and security is much higher as youre not sharing information with companies providing AI tools it should all remain encrypted on your laptop.

In the run-up to the launch of Copilot+ PC devices, I was skeptical about how revolutionary these new laptops will actually be. It didnt help that
Microsoft brought one of the key features the Copilot AI assistant itself
to Windows 11 already in the form of a beta. While having quick access to an AI chatbot from within the operating system was novel at first, after trying it a few times, I never used it again. I simply couldnt see how it could make my day-to-day life easier.

The fact that Microsofts other major selling point of Copilot+ PCs, the
Recall feature, has been dogged by controversy surrounding privacy concerns with many people understandably concerned that by taking snapshots of your PC activity every minute or so, Microsoft is collecting a huge amount of sensitive information and the companys past actions havent helped make
people more comfortable about that.

In fact, the negative response to Recall was so intense that Microsoft pulled the feature from launching alongside Copilot+ PC devices , instead making it available to Windows Insiders, who can test it out before a wider release later.

This led to the rather strange spectacle of having Microsoft (and later on, other manufacturers such as Samsung who have also launched Copilot+ PC products) having to wax lyrical about a feature that we all know has been delayed due to user concerns.

Still, when I went to visit Microsoft on Tuesday for the launch of Copilot+ PC, the team were in bullish form, telling me that Copilot+ PCs are an inflexion point in the history of computing and technology, and as revolutionary as the first IBM PC and rise of the smartphones. (Image credit: IBM)

Bold words, certainly, and I was keen to see just how revolutionary these devices are. Since Tuesday, Ive been using the new Surface Laptop every day
as my main computer, and I have already found a major change that really
could shake up the laptop industry and give Microsoft a device that can truly challenge MacBooks again but it has nothing to do with AI. AI why?

Of course with all the hype surrounding Copilot+ PC AI features, so I was
keen to see if they were as essential as Microsoft and others have been telling me they are. However, to be blunt, they left me with the same mix of awe at the raw technology, and bafflement about how it will be useful.

One of the more interesting implementations is Cocreator, a new AI-powered feature now found in Windows 11s iconic Paint app. You can make a simple drawing (which Paint is usually used for), then type in a prompt (such as describing what the drawing is and what style you want the image to be), and using a slider you can adjust how much the AI alters your image with the results displayed in a second panel.

Its undeniably impressive, especially considering that this is all being done in a free, basic app, while also using the built-in NPU of the laptop to do all of this.

But, after that initial impressive impression, I was once again left
wondering what actual use this would be for me. Its a fun diversion, sure,
but I just cant see it being that useful for my day to day life. Perhaps graphic designers and artists might like it, but then I doubt they would use
a basic app like Paint to work on. And, while the results were impressive
when turning a rushed doodle into something more recognisable, the images
made by Cocreator were still obviously made by AI and most professionals
will likely not want to rely on designs like that. (Image credit:
Shutterstock / LookerStudio)

Copilot also remains a frustration. It can now be called up with a push of a dedicated Copilot button thats part of the keyboards that come with Copilot+ PC devices, but even when quickly opening it up, I struggle to think of ways to use it to its full potential. It doesnt help that it feels like a separate app, rather than integrating with other apps so it just feels like using it is yet another step complicating tasks rather than simplifying them.

At work we use Slack, an instant messaging app that allows our global team to keep in contact. So, I thought Id ask Copilot to write me a generic hello message to my co-workers in Slack.

Heres what Copilot replied with: Hi team! A friendly reminder about our off-site tomorrow. Please come wearing comfy clothes. Well provide breakfast and lunch. See you at 9 a.m.!

While the tone of the message is broadly what I was after, if nothing like what I'd actually write in Slack to my team, the fact that it invented an off-site event and then promised that food would be provided meant I
obviously could not use it Id have to rewrite almost everything in the Copilot app, then copy the text over to the Slack app to post. How is this supposed to save me time?

A few days later I was sitting in a presentation and had a great idea for how Copilot could help me so I asked it to transcribe the presentation using the Surface Laptops microphone, which could save me from frantically typing away trying to note down everything thats being said.

Unfortunately, Copilot was unable to help, telling me it could not
transcribe, and could not take live audio either. It suggested it could take my notes and summarize them for me which wasnt going to be much help.

Instead, I used a feature in Microsoft Word to record the audio and
transcribe it. I then copied and pasted the transcript into Copilot to summarize a crafty workaround to get what I needed or so I thought. Instead, Copilot told me that the text was too long, so I could only summarize some of the presentation. The result was good, but because it could not transcribe
the entire presentation at once, it was useless not to mention that once again I was copying and pasting text between Copilot and various apps, whilst also typing out prompts for the AI to follow.

It all felt like more effort than it was worth, the opposite of what was promised. After that, Ive barely used it, apart from asking it what the standard door size is in the UK (long story), which is something I could have just Googled anyway.

So, are Copilot+ PC devices like the Surface Laptop a noble failure?
Certainly not theres a lot Ive really liked about the Surface Laptop but Copilot isnt one of them. (Image credit: Qualcomm / Shutterstock / Viktoria Kurpas) ARM is the gamechanger

Much has been made of the Snapdragon X chips both the Elite and Plus
variants and how thanks to their NPUs hitting 45 TOPS (Trillions of Operations per Second) they are able to handle intensive AI tasks with ease but whilst using the Surface Laptop, which is powered by the 12-core Snapdragon X X1E80100 chip, I was far more impressed with the other benefits this ARM-based chip offers Copilot+ PC devices that have them.

The most impressive of all is the boost to battery life these chips offer.
Ive been getting increasingly annoyed at the poor battery lives of even the best Windows laptops . Not only do they seem to lose battery life quickly,
but they are pretty poor at losing battery life even when not in use. Far too often, Ive picked up my work laptop to go to a meeting, only to find when I open it up that the battery is dead even though the last time I used it
there was plenty left.

This has led me to almost exclusively use MacBooks these days. Thanks to
their ARM-based chips (the M1 , M2 , M3 ), the best MacBooks can last a lot longer than Windows 11 laptops , while also keeping their charge even when
not used for a while but with Copilot+ PC, that could all change.

I charged the Surface Laptop about two and a half days before writing this, and in that time Ive been using it on and off throughout the day, including trying out AI features, taking part in (many) video calls, recording and transcribing a presentation and general internet browsing. With many Windows laptops in the past, I would have probably had to charge at least once a day. Even if I didnt need to, past experience makes me worried about traveling without charging my work laptop beforehand. Yep, range anxiety doesnt just affect people with electric cars Windows laptop users get it as well. With the Surface Laptop, not only have I not had to charge it for several days,
its still over 30%.

This is an absolute game changer for me, as while battery life has been massively improved, that hasnt come at the cost of performance. So far, Ive been able to run any Windows 11 app thanks to Microsoft seemingly figuring out how to get those apps, which are designed to run on Intel and AMD chips, to work on ARM chips.

The power efficiency of the Snapdragon X chips also means that the Surface Laptop is thin and light and crucially, it doesnt heat up quickly which
means theres no distracting fan noise. The laptop has been essentially silent whilst running, again a big change from Windows laptops Ive used in the past.

This, more than any AI features, has made me seriously consider going back to a Windows laptop. Youre getting build quality and performance that matches MacBooks, with a huge battery life. And, for all the grief I give Microsoft about some of its more obnoxious choices when it comes to Windows 11, I still feel more comfortable using that operating system compared to macOS. Sure, Apples OS is arguably better than Microsofts, but Ive been using Windows
since the days of Windows 3.1, and that means I know how the OS works, and
how to fix errors and use workarounds when needed. Im less used to macOS and its sometimes weird way of doing things. Oh, and the Surface Laptop comes
with a touchscreen, something Apple seems to refuse to bring to its MacBooks, despite my time with using the iPad Pro (M4) and the Magic Keyboard that proved that a touchscreen MacBook could work. Rather than wait for Apple to agree, I could just use the Surface Laptop.

So, despite the importance of Copilot in Microsofts eyes, its not the most impressive thing about Copilot+ PCs its the hardware. These devices could transform the laptop market, just not in the way Microsoft thinks. You might also like I ditched my laptop for an iPad Pro for a few weeks heres what I learned What is AI? Everything you need to know about Artificial Intelligence Microsofts embarrassment over Recall fiasco gets worse as Windows 11 feature becomes the butt of Apple execs joke



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/my-week-so-far-wit h-copilot-pc-laptops-they-might-be-the-future-but-not-for-the-reasons-microsof t-wants


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