Hi, it’s Friday! If you are planning, I know, maybe hang out in the bar (or PubFor the UKerne) or something similar with a bunch of PC loving friends, yes, you want something to talk about tonight. Microsoft fired a Salvo against Apple in the form of a video card that claims that “Top Copilot+ PCS” is faster than the beloved MacBook Air. You can waste 12 seconds of your life and see it below.
(I’ll give you a moment to wipe the saliva from your screen. Sorry I should have warned you.) Cheese production aside (“Was this comically low budget advertisement made with Windows Movie Maker 2 and a 5 MP camera from 2003?” Commented @itsrichiet), the most important sticking point about this ad is to compare M3 MacBook Air – You know, the laptop released in 2024 and replaced earlier this year with the M4 MacBook Air.
So the M3 Air is not in Apple’s active product lineup. Granted, you can buy M3 MacBook Air from third -party retailers and at Apple’s certified renovated store. But it doesn’t look good when a company compares “top” products with competitors that are no longer made and have been replaced by something better.
The thing is, Microsoft also claims that “Top Copilot+ PCS” is faster than the M4 MacBook Air – it’s right on their website. But the results look like nothing like “up to 58 percent” that was declared in the ad. Microsoft says it registered a Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core score of 866 for the M4 Air, and that eight copilot+ PCs “all scored higher.” So let me take the opportunity to do what Microsoft wouldn’t show you: How much faster these eight copilot+ PCs are than the M4 MacBook Air (Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core Score is in parentheses).
- Asus Vivobook S 14 with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365: 5.3 percent (912)
- Dell XPS 13 9345 with Snapdragon X Elite: 8.9 percent (943.3)
- HP Omnibook Ultra 14 with AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375: 11.4 percent (965)
- Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 ″ with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite: 18.9 percent (1029.6)
- Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 ″ with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite 19.4 percent (1033.6)
- Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365: 17.9 percent (1021.3)
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 15 ″ with Snapdragon X Elite: 9.7 percent (950)
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8 ″ with Snapdragon X Elite: 2.7 percent (889.6)
The Lenovo units are the fastest of the flock (I don’t know why Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 ″ is tested twice; drop me a line if you can fill me) but these improvements are not big enough to make an impression. Imagine that video, but instead it says, “Top Copilot+ PCS is up to 19.4 percent faster than a MacBook Air with M4.” It will just get you stupid look from the Microsoft Marketing Department. Heck, we here at Macworld see 15 to 25 percent improvement from one M-series chip to another and our reaction to it is lukewarm. You can imagine what we think of a Copilot+ PCS that offers a less than 20 percent boost over the M4 MacBook Air: PFFT. As for all the other PCs? You will not notice the difference at all.
We drove the same Cinebench 2024 test and got a score of 797 for the M4 MacBook Air, so the results can vary.
To summarize, to your PC-Lovin ‘friends who want to bring this ad up over a few pints:
- Your “Top Copilot+ PCS” are “up to 58 percent” faster than a ceased MacBook Air? Cool!
- “Top Copilot+ PCS” faster than the M4 MacBook Air? It may be true, but no one can notice the difference in use in the real world. But hey, nice of you to catch up!
- 12-second ad? Just another example of a company trying to relate to the young people.
And if they still don’t listen, just remember to use Windows.