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Microsoft drops the Copilot+ badge from new PCs that still meet its 40 TOPS bar
Microsoft has stopped calling new PCs Copilot+ even when they clear the old bar of a 40 TOPS NPU and 16GB of RAM, Surface CVP Brett Ostrum said. Buying specs that used the name as shorthand for that hardware now have to state the NPU and memory figures themselves.
The Engineer · Build desk
What happened
- Qualcomm compute SVP Kedar Kondap told Windows Central the companies offer the same experiences as before, just without the Copilot+ PC terminology.
- Devices that would have qualified, including Nvidia's upcoming RTX Spark N1X and Microsoft's Project Zenith, also lack the Copilot+ badge.
- Microsoft's latest Surface for Business laptops include models with as little as 8GB of RAM, below the original 16GB benchmark.
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Why it matters
- decision Purchase specs that named 'Copilot+ PC' should now state the NPU rating and memory floor directly, because the name is no longer printed on the hardware that meets them.
- exposure A buyer who orders current Surface for Business models without a RAM floor can receive a machine with half the memory the old on-device AI bar required.
- constraint Until Microsoft maps features to hardware, a spec can pin TOPS and RAM but cannot guarantee which on-device Windows AI features a given machine unlocks.
Copilot+ was a hardware floor with a marketing name on it. According to TechSpot, the floor was at least 16GB of RAM and an NPU rated at 40 TOPS or more [2]. Microsoft introduced the brand in 2024 to separate PCs that could run AI locally from those with no NPU or one under 40 TOPS [1]. While the badge existed, a purchase spec could write "Copilot+ PC" and inherit both numbers.
Surface corporate vice president Brett Ostrum confirmed the change to Windows Central at Snapdragon Summit 2026 [3]. "These are not called Copilot+ PCs," Ostrum said. "They do meet all the requirements of our previous bar for what Copilot+ devices are. We still lean into the narrative around AI on the edge and being able to have a hybrid out there." [4]
The hardware under the missing badge now varies. Some new Surface for Business laptops ship with 8GB of RAM [7], half the old floor [16]. Microsoft has taken its 32GB RAM recommendation off its website [8] and says it will optimize Windows 11 to run smoothly on 8GB [12]. An order that asks only for a current Surface for Business laptop can now land below the bar Ostrum's quote refers to [7].
The fix is to write the floor out. A spec line that calls for an NPU rated at 40 TOPS or higher and a 16GB RAM minimum says what "Copilot+ PC" used to say [2], and a reseller can check it against a datasheet. A spec that still says "Copilot+ PC" either excludes every new launch or gets waved through on a vendor's say-so, because neither Microsoft nor Qualcomm is applying the label to new devices [5].
A TOPS figure for the NPU may not stay the whole requirement. Microsoft has tested Copilot+ AI features on discrete GPUs, a possible route to PCs whose processors lack an NPU, according to Tom's Hardware [11]. Microsoft's next high-end Surface laptops, due early next month, are a collaboration with Nvidia, a company that has historically preferred running AI workloads on its RTX GPUs over NPUs, TechSpot reported [14]. Tom's Hardware also says it is still unclear whether every Windows 11 PC will get the AI features once locked behind the name [10].
Microsoft did not give a specific reason for dropping the name [9]. Tom's Hardware offers two: many mainstream and high-end processors now ship NPUs that reach 40 TOPS, and the memory shortage has made the 16GB minimum expensive [15]. The Copilot name itself is in no short supply. One AI consultant counted more than 80 distinct Copilot offerings, Tom's Hardware reported [13].
What to watch
- Whether Microsoft publishes a list mapping each Windows AI feature to the accelerator and memory it needs, now that the badge no longer signals it.
- Whether the GPU-run versions of Copilot+ features ship, letting machines without a 40 TOPS NPU satisfy a feature requirement.
- The Nvidia-built high-end Surface launch expected early next month, and whether its AI features run on the NPU or the RTX GPU.