Apple's new "best AI PC" Mac ads take aim at Microsoft's Copilot+ machines

(Image credit: Future)

With Apple Intelligence about to become a big priority for Apple with its long-awaited AI features, the company is feeling emboldened enough to poke a little fun at longtime rival Microsoft.

After Craig Federighi joked about Apple "missing the boat" in a talk at WWDC about the rise of AI laptops (despite the company rolling out neural engines earlier than most), a new line of promos proudly proclaims that the "best AI PC is a Mac".

Apple even goes so far as to name (and shame) Copilot+ alternatives with spec comparisons (thanks, Aaron from MacRumors).

"MacBook Air with M3 has up to 40 percent faster graphics performance than Copilot+ PCs. So it’s great for things like video editing and playing graphics-intensive games. MacBook Air is also up to 25 percent faster for browsing the web."

Apple is marketing the Mac as “The best AI PC” and compares it to a Copilot+ PC pic.twitter.com/s17E65DVsmSeptember 6, 2024

Shots fired at Microsoft's Copilot+ laptrops

According to Apple, testing was carried out in August 2024 (just last month), comparing the 15-inch MacBook Air to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition.

It's all friendly competition, however. Back in June, Federighi admitted being impressed by Copilot, but shortly afterwards Microsoft axed the controversial Recall AI feature.

Just last month, Apple went after Adobe Premiere with a series of new Final Cut Pro ads as it gears up for its Glowtime event tomorrow and a reported October event to focus on Macs and iPads.

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Lloyd Coombes is a freelance writer with a specialism in Apple tech. From his first, hand-me-down iMac, he’s been working with Apple products for over a decade, and while he loves his iPhone and Mac, the iPad will always have his heart for reasons he still can’t quite fathom. Since moving from blogging to writing professionally, Lloyd’s work can be found at TechRadar, Macworld, TechAdvisor and plenty more. He’s also the Editor in Chief at GGRecon.com, and on the rare occasion he’s not writing you’ll find him spending time with his son, or working hard at the gym (while wearing an Apple Watch, naturally). You can find him on Twitter @lloydcoombes.