Microsoft Drops Copilot+ Branding From New Surface Laptops

Microsoft has removed the Copilot+ label from its latest Surface laptops, a quiet marketing shift confirmed by a company vice president. The new machines still satisfy the hardware requirements that define Copilot+ PCs — including the neural processing unit threshold Microsoft set when it introduced the category in 2024 — but they no longer carry the branding in their product names or promotional material. The change was first noticed by Tom's Hardware.

The branding launched with considerable fanfare. At a May 2024 event, Microsoft positioned Copilot+ as a new class of Windows PC built around on-device AI, with a baseline of 40 TOPS of NPU performance. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips powered the first wave of devices, followed by AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel's Lunar Lake processors. Every major Windows OEM, from Dell and HP to Lenovo and Samsung, shipped machines under the Copilot+ banner.

Since then, the label has had a rough run. Recall, the AI screenshot feature that Microsoft made the centerpiece of the Copilot+ pitch, was pulled from its initial launch after security researchers demonstrated it could capture sensitive data including passwords and financial information. Microsoft delayed the feature, rebuilt it around optional encryption and Windows Hello authentication, and shipped it months late. The episode turned the Copilot+ name into a liability in some corners of the press and among privacy-focused buyers.

Microsoft has also been reworking Copilot itself. The company split the assistant into separate consumer and enterprise products, renamed parts of the lineup, and has continued to push AI features across Windows, Office and its developer tools without always tying them to the Copilot+ designation. Dropping the badge from Surface hardware fits that pattern: the AI capabilities remain, but the marketing frame around them is being retired or at least de-emphasized.

The Surface CVP's confirmation that the new devices still meet the hardware bar matters, because it suggests Microsoft is not retreating from on-device AI. Instead, the company appears to be abandoning a brand that never fully escaped its Recall baggage. For buyers, the practical question is whether Copilot+ features will still be called that in Windows itself, or whether Microsoft plans to rename the software tier as well. Watch the next Windows feature update and any Surface marketing refresh for the answer.