IFA has now come to a close, but all the news announced during the event is still bubbling around the internet. I can't deny that companies really gave it their all during the event, with our team at the event spotting some really cool products like Dark Project and the Acer laptop with a touchpad that turns into a controller.

We also saw everyone's new waves of Snapdragon devices, all of which were touted as Copilot+ machines first and foremost. However, as I went over the press releases, I couldn't help but notice that companies were really, really going hard on Copilot+'s AI capabilities. It was marketed as a silver bullet, with companies claiming that the added AI power would enhance productivity without really explaining why or how. So, here is how companies are going a little too hard on Copilot+.

1 Copilot+ isn't fully fleshed out yet

Still a half-baked tool

This one I can't wholly blame the manufacturers for. It's likely that Microsoft gave them a roadmap of what to expect and when to release their products, and the Redmond giant stated that it would back them up with Copilot+ features to help sell devices.

The manufacturers turned up with their Copilot+-compatible devices, and Microsoft...well, it managed to release something, at least. You have AI-generated live captions for everything, which is great for those with accessibility needs. Plus, you can use Cocreator to generate images in Paint, which is neat.

But the real show-stopper feature, Recall, is nowhere to be seen. This feature was planned to be released alongside Copilot+, but Microsoft ran into two issues. First, people were concerned about their privacy surrounding a feature that took periodic screenshots of their desktops. Then, as Microsoft was in the middle of calming everybody down and reassuring them that their data was safe, someone proved that Recall saved plain-text records of everything you did on your PC.

Microsoft had to pull the feature, and Recall is currently in the testing branch of Windows. As such, manufacturers are stuck selling a device that only has some of its features ready for use.

2 There are AI tools outside of Copilot, too

Don't forget the third-party support

So, alright - we have a whole wave of laptops and portable devices that don't have all the Copilot+ features just yet. Fortunately, Snapdragon devices can do a lot more than just handle Microsoft's AI processes. In fact, it can handle everyone else's too.

There are a bunch of third-party apps that can harness the power of Copilot+, so why not advertise those? Instead of making do with Microsoft's offerings and any additional tools that the manufacturer added, shine the spotlight on some third-party apps and what they can do with AI. People love the video editor DaVinci Resolve, and it's getting some new AI tools that can run on local hardware. So why not show that off? Granted, it's not the manufacturer's own tools being advertised, but it's still a good way to plug the sizable, Recall-shaped gap left in the Copilot+ lineup.

3 The Snapdragon hardware can handle much more than just AI

And it gets better every month, it seems

The final issue is that some people just do not care for AI. And that's completely and utterly valid. Companies should not handle these consumers by cramming AI features down their throats until they like them because there's no guarantee they ever will. Instead, it's best to also highlight the areas where a Copilot+ machine can shine outside of AI.

So, when you strip the Copilot+ out of a Copilot+ device, what are you left with? Turns out, you're left with some pretty stellar hardware that doesn't need AI to shine. That's all thanks to the Snapdragon chip that's powering the Copilot+ features, which is still a solid CPU by itself.

Our editor-in-chief Rich Woods has had his tech-calloused hands on the Surface Laptop 7 15 for quite some time now. In his review of the Surface Laptop 7, and subsequent talks with him about it over the past few weeks, he always says that he uses it as a Windows on Arm device first and foremost. And who can blame him? Month after month we're seeing more third-party developers adapt their software to the faster Arm architecture, to the point we can finally say that Windows on Arm has finally hit its stride. To Rich, the Copilot+ side of his Snapdragon devices is more a novelty than a flagship feature.

So, yes, these devices can and will run Copilot+ processes. However, they can also run Windows on Arm apps with a catalog that sees fresh blood every month. That, in itself, is worth cheering for.

The best part about Copilot+ devices isn't Copilot+

By themselves, Copilot+ devices are a solid pick. They're great for handling AI processes if you're a fan of them, and even if you're not, they're lightning-fast. I just think trying to market these devices as a Copilot+ device first and foremost won't convince people to pick them up. Instead, manufacturers should market what else the devices can do, as if Copilot+ was a side feature instead of the main attraction. Until then, companies will keep going hard on the Copilot+ train, even if it's not very alluring.