Microsoft drops Copilot+ PC branding for new Surface models

Microsoft spent the better part of two years trying to make “Copilot+ PC” a thing. The branding, launched in mid-2024, was supposed to be the consumer’s shortcut for identifying which Windows machines could handle AI workloads locally.

That experiment is now over. The new Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd Edition) and Surface Laptop 13-inch (2nd Edition), announced at the Snapdragon Summit on September 23-25, carry no Copilot+ PC branding whatsoever.

From premium label to quiet burial

Brett Ostrum, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Surface, confirmed the branding’s removal in interviews published September 25. Microsoft’s dedicated Copilot+ PC landing page now redirects to a more generic page highlighting “performance PCs.”

The original Copilot+ PC program set a minimum threshold of 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second) for a device’s neural processing unit. That was the hardware floor Microsoft deemed necessary for running AI-accelerated tasks like image generation, live captions, and the controversial Recall feature directly on a laptop.

Both new Surface models feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus processor with an 80 TOPS NPU, double the original minimum requirement. The replacement messaging centers on “AI on the edge,” signaling that on-device AI processing should be a baseline expectation across Windows 11 machines.

Why the rebrand makes sense

The Copilot+ PC label had a rocky tenure from the start. Its most high-profile feature, Recall, which took constant screenshots of user activity to create a searchable timeline, triggered immediate privacy backlash when it was previewed in 2024. Microsoft delayed the feature, revised its architecture, and eventually rolled it out with significant guardrails.

Qualcomm’s Kedar Kondap indicated that the actual user experience will likely remain unchanged despite the branding shift. The same AI features, the same hardware capabilities, just without the marketing label.

The broader industry shift

For existing Copilot+ PC owners, nothing changes functionally. Microsoft’s documentation confirms that the hardware specifications and capabilities associated with those devices remain intact. The 40 TOPS minimum for certain AI features still exists as a technical requirement. It just won’t be consumer-facing branding anymore.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.