The term AI PC has quickly become the buzzword of 2025. Microsoft is branding its new generation of laptops as Copilot+ PCs, but what does that actually mean for users, and how do these machines compare to Apple’s approach with Apple Intelligence? Let’s break it down.
What Makes a PC an “AI PC”?
Not every modern laptop qualifies. To wear the Copilot+ PC badge, a system must meet strict requirements:
- Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with 40+ TOPS (trillions of operations per second)
- At least 16GB of RAM
- At least 256GB SSD storage
Why? Because Microsoft wants a guaranteed baseline of AI horsepower. This ensures that every Copilot+ device can run small language models (SLMs) locally, process natural-language queries instantly, and support AI features without relying exclusively on the cloud.
Why On-Device AI Matters
Running AI on your laptop’s NPU—instead of only in the cloud—changes the game:
Speed: Local models cut latency dramatically.
Privacy: More data stays on your device.
Offline access: Tasks like text cleanup, translation, and image captioning work without internet.
Battery efficiency: NPUs handle inference faster and more efficiently than CPUs or GPUs.
This is the foundation behind features like Windows Recall, which lets you retrieve “that slide with the blue chart” just by describing it.
The Chipmakers Driving the Race
Three companies are leading the AI PC hardware race:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X (Elite/Plus): The first Copilot+ laptops, with an NPU delivering around 45 TOPS. Strengths: battery life and silent fanless designs.
- AMD Ryzen AI (Strix Point / AI Max+): Delivers up to 50 TOPS with its XDNA 2 NPU plus strong integrated graphics. A great choice for creative workloads.
- Intel Lunar Lake (Core Ultra Series 2): Arriving later in 2025, Intel’s latest NPUs cross the 40+ TOPS threshold while balancing strong CPU and GPU performance.
Each clears Microsoft’s bar, but they bring different trade-offs—Qualcomm for efficiency, AMD for graphics, Intel for broad compatibility.
Microsoft’s Secret Weapon: Phi Small Language Models
At the heart of this push is Microsoft’s Phi family of small language models. Unlike massive cloud-based LLMs, Phi models are designed to run locally while still delivering solid results for summarization, search, and natural-language tasks.
The newest variant, Phi Silica, comes pre-installed on every Copilot+ PC and is available to developers through Windows AI APIs. That means apps can integrate AI features without needing to bundle their own models.
Windows Recall: The Star Feature (With Caveats)
The most talked-about feature is Recall. It continuously captures snapshots of your activity and lets you find anything with a simple prompt: “Show me the recipe I looked at with a red background last week.”
After privacy concerns, Microsoft made Recall opt-in and protected by Windows Hello authentication with encryption. It’s a bold idea—powerful, but only if users trust the system.
How Apple’s Approach Differs
Apple is playing the same game under a different name: Apple Intelligence. Like Microsoft, it leans on on-device models for speed and privacy, but for heavier tasks it uses Private Cloud Compute, a secure Apple-controlled server environment.
While Microsoft set a hardware baseline (40+ TOPS NPUs), Apple focused on privacy guarantees—with every cloud request verified and audited.
Should You Buy an AI PC Now?
Yes, if you:
- Want cutting-edge AI features baked into Windows.
- Rely on tasks like summarizing, translation, or multimedia search.
- Can benefit from all-day battery life and silent fanless designs.
Maybe wait, if you:
- Depend on legacy x86 apps that don’t yet run smoothly on ARM (Snapdragon systems).
- Want to see how Intel and AMD’s upcoming AI PCs compare later in 2025.
- Prefer to wait until Recall and other AI features are fully rolled out in your region.
The Bigger Picture
AI PCs are not just marketing hype. By enforcing the 40+ TOPS NPU requirement, Microsoft is reshaping the laptop ecosystem: developers can now assume a baseline of AI power, and users get new capabilities that feel closer to science fiction than productivity software.
This is the start of a hybrid AI era: local models for everyday tasks, cloud models for heavier work. Whether you’re on a Windows Copilot+ PC or waiting for Apple Intelligence, one thing is clear—AI is no longer a side feature. It’s becoming the operating system’s core.