When Microsoft introduced the Copilot+ PC hardware tier in May 2024 — mandating a Neural Processing Unit capable of 40 Tera Operations Per Second — the industry read it as a marketing move designed to sell new hardware. Eighteen months later, it is clear it was infrastructure preparation for Windows 12.
What TOPS Means in Practice
TOPS — Tera Operations Per Second — measures the raw throughput of an AI accelerator chip performing integer matrix multiplication. One TOPS equals one trillion such operations per second. To put 40 TOPS in context: the Apple M3 chip delivers approximately 18 TOPS from its Neural Engine — failing Microsoft's threshold. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite delivers 45 TOPS. Intel's Core Ultra 200V series delivers 48 TOPS. AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series delivers up to 50 TOPS.
Processors That Meet the 40 TOPS Threshold
Qualcomm (45 TOPS)
Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100, X1E-80-100): 45 TOPS NPU. Ships in Surface Pro 11, Surface Laptop 7, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge.
Snapdragon X Plus: 45 TOPS. Mid-range variant used in more affordable Copilot+ PCs.
Intel (48 TOPS)
Core Ultra 200V series (Lunar Lake): 48 TOPS NPU. Ships in Surface Pro 11 (Intel), HP OmniBook X, Dell XPS 13 9350.
Core Ultra 200H/HX (Arrow Lake): Some SKUs reach 40+ TOPS — verify per SKU.
AMD (50 TOPS)
Ryzen AI 300 series (Strix Point — Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, AI 7 360, AI 5 340): 50 TOPS. Ships in ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i, MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo.
Processors That Do NOT Qualify
- Intel 13th Gen (Raptor Lake) and earlier: No dedicated NPU.
- Intel Core Ultra 100H/U series (Meteor Lake): 11–16 TOPS — far below threshold.
- AMD Ryzen 7000/8000 non-AI SKUs: No dedicated NPU meeting 40 TOPS.
- AMD Ryzen 7040 (Phoenix): Approximately 16 TOPS — insufficient.
What AI Features Require the NPU
- AI Recall and Semantic Timeline Search: All indexing and querying runs entirely on-device using the NPU.
- Cocreator in Paint: Real-time generative image creation using a locally-running Stable Diffusion variant optimised for NPU execution.
- Live Captions with Real-Time Translation: Transcription and translation across 44 languages, running a local Whisper-derived model entirely on the NPU.
- Windows Studio Effects: Background blur, auto-framing, eye contact correction for any webcam.
- Copilot+ Proactive Intelligence: The ambient AI layer that reads context and surfaces suggestions without explicit user invocation.
The Market Impact
IDC estimates approximately 62% of the global Windows installed base as of 2025 falls below the NPU threshold, creating a two-tier Windows 12 market for the first two to three years post-launch. Windows 12 will install and run on older hardware, but none of the AI features will be available.