Galaxy Book 4 Edge launch disaster proves you should just buy a MacBook — Samsung says it can't run Adobe apps, Google Drive, or Fortnite

(Image credit: Samsung)

With so many major laptop manufacturers leaning into its use, Samsung may have just shown the blueprint on how not to launch an AI product.

Samsung’s Galaxy Book 4 Edge comes equipped with a beefy Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. With built-in Copilot support for AI processing, you might assume it justifies that minimum price of $1,349.99 but a recent report suggests you should probably just go for a MacBook instead.

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the Korean site for the Galaxy Book 4 Edge claims it can not run Fortnite, League of Legends, Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, and more. All of the above can run natively on the best MacBooks, and recent spec tests reveal that the M3 MacBook Air has Galaxy Book 4 Edge beaten in almost all major benchmarks.

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Why is this happening?

Though Samsung hasn’t given the specifics of what has caused this problem, it has been suggested that the swap to the current processor has led to compatibility issues. Samsung has said, “We’ve asked app developers for improvements, and will check on app improvement schedules to provide continual updates.” Compatibility will likely get better with time and support for many major applications and games could come. Still, it is partially down to the developers to decide if it is worth that extra effort.

Earlier this year, before Apple announced Apple Intelligence, some of its shareholders were putting pressure on it to reveal its AI plans. Apple has been famously rather guarded about this reveal and, when it was finally announced at WWDC 2024, Apple’s share price saw a huge uptick.

Even without the AI features launching in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, the iPhone 15 Pro and MacBook Air M3 are capable devices first before they are AI machines, Apple Intelligence is just the icing on the cake. Samsung could turn this poor launch around but by that point, Apple’s own AI functionality will likely already be here.

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James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person.

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer.

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.