AI PC may be the future, but for now, I just don’t care. Despite all marketing promotion, they do not offer much to everyday users like me. At least, not yet.
4
AI PCs are expensive
As this writing, one of the largest turnoffs about AI PC is tag. The cost of these machines is significantly higher than the traditional laptop or desktop, roughly to handle a dedicated nerve processing unit (NPU) (or what is called apple nerve engine) and to handle other up-to-det features such as the latest chips to handle the latest chips.
This may look like a personal anxiety, but companies are well aware of it.
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What are AI PCs, and what makes them different?
We know that AI PC is future. But does it really make them different?
As XDA DevelopersIntel’s Mitchell Johnson Holthas admitted that customers are not buying the latest and more expensive lunar lake and meteor-operated equipment in the draw. Instead, the demand of the consumer is for the old and less expensive models that are running the previous generation chips such as the Rapter Lake.
Holthas said, “What we are really seeing is a lot of demand from our customers for N -1 and N -2 products so that they can continue to distribute the system price points that consumers are actually demanding. Meteor lake and lunar lake are great, but come with a lot of cost structure.”
3
Limited real -world use matters
Despite the marketing buzz, the AI PC still lacks real -world applications. I have not seen anything that can be done exclusively on AI PCs that warns a premium for them.
Certainly, they promise facilities such as automatic photo enhancement, live caption, text summary, or banging in video calls, to make some names – but these are not groundbreaking or exclusive for AI PCs.
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The future of Windows 11 is AI, whether you like it or not
AI is to live here, and Microsoft is definitely jumping on the bandwagan.
If you look at the market, you will realize that most of the benefits of AI-branded PC are nothing more than a slight increase for traditional PCs. When you install any available AI apps on old hardware, this difference shrinks even more.
As long as AI PCs offer features that actually change on how we interact with our equipment on day-to-day basis, I am not buying it.
2
AI tasks are still better in cloud
The introduced number of NPU’s introduction or increased number of operations per second that can handle on NPU AI PC is a great marketing tool on paper. But the companies that do not tell you are that these devices are not sufficient to do any serious processing locally.
Yes, companies suggest that the new chip will enable AI functions to run on-devices for safety, and, of course, do something. But they are some more far away. Most of these functions are better suited to walking on powerful cloud hardware.
Whether it is image generation, material summary, rewriting, voice transcription, or image and video editing, Cloud-based AI equipment such as Chatgpt and Gemini are more powerful and accurate. They can do tasks that cannot handle the current NPU on-device.
Companies are aware of this, and it is clear that many AI features on AI PCs keep running in the cloud. For example, the primary marketing of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCS is that you can run AI tasks locally. Nevertheless, it is ironic that clicking on the Copilot key simply launches the Copilot app, which uses the Openai model running in the cloud.
In April 2025, Microsoft announced a plan to bring more copillot+ AI features for additional Windows 11 devices. But here is a catch – they all need an internet connection, which means they still walk in the cloud. It is currently a common subject in the industry.
I do not see the matter of getting AI PC for now, as I can use the best AI chatbots on my current hardware including my old iPhone and Android phone using dedicated apps or websites.
1
AI PC shallow integration of AI
The term “AI PC” suggests an intensive integrated, a-wide experience. But as this writing, this integration is surprisingly shallow. Most AI features feel bolted rather than ripened in operating systems or workflows. For example, Windows Copilot, still looks like a glorious chatbot compared to a true AI assistant.
Despite coming from Microsoft, its surface laptops still do not offer deep integration that I will expect from an A-branded laptop. For example, Copilot can find my Windows PC for specific files so that I can get enough reference to more personal experiences.
I can ask it to removing the storage by removing temporary and old files, which I do not need, or even troubleshooting my internet issues.
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These are my 4 favorite AI features in Windows 11
These characteristics are so good that I use them regularly.
But do you think? This is not. In short, using the copilot on the surface laptop is like using chats or other similar devices with some extra.
Microsoft is not alone in it. It is standard all over the board, AI chatbots are offered from various manufacturers with all laptops and desktops, often not limited to any system-level integration.
Additionally, this limited integration is also beyond the operating system. Many software applications still do not use NPUs, as just Josh YouTube channel is widely wide.
Just Josh’s team revealed that despite launching with an integrated NPU despite the Asus Prort PX13 laptop, its AI assistant, OMNI, does not use it. It moves on integrated GPU, even when an external GPU is available. Similarly, on Asus Zenbook S 14 and Proart PX13, the team discovered the Copilot run in the cloud, given that there is no CPU, GPU, or NPU load spikes when Copilot Key is pressed while working.
When buying my next PC, I will focus on the standard glasses that we all care about: battery life, CPU and JPU performance, memory, storage, display, port, and more. I will not be sent by AI branding, as integration is still shallow, and so-called benefits are very low, if anything, you can not meet already online chatbot or dedicated AI-Interested software.
