Samsung has announced its Copilot+ PC, which is powered by a Qualcomm processor, but has warned Korean buyers (and apparently only Koreans) that it won’t be able to run many popular applications.
The term “Copilot+ PC” was invented by Microsoft to describe a machine that boasts a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of operating at 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS), making it suitable to run all of the AI features of Windows 11 at a comfortable speed. Microsoft’s first example of a Copilot+ PC was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor, which packs 45 TOPS and uses the Arm processor architecture.
Most PCs use the x86 architecture, so there’s a good chance that older software will be stranded on an Arm-based machine, making it less of a temptation to buy one. But Microsoft has created an emulation layer called Prism, which Claim On the Copilot+ PC, “apps will run flawlessly, whether they’re native or emulated.”
South Korea’s Samsung disagrees.
in Compatibility NoticeThe South Korean giant has warned that many security applications, Adobe Illustrator, and Google Drive will not work on the GalaxyBook Edge 4 Copilot+ PC. Games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Microsoft’s flagship shooter Halo Infinite also appear not to work on Windows 11 on Arm and Snapdragon silicon.
The websites of some Korean financial service providers also state that these machines are not compatible, and their compatibility pages also warn that some printers may not work with these machines without new software.
Registry I checked non-Korean Samsung sites but didn’t find any similar compatibility notices, and I searched for the product code listed next to the Korean laptop but couldn’t find it anywhere else.
This could be an important clue: Around 2005, Microsoft lost an antitrust case in South Korea that required it to spin off some Windows components, such as its media player. The OS giant produced a South Korea-only version of Windows, at least up until Windows 10.
We have reached out to Microsoft and Samsung for clarification on the compatibility notices and will update our readers when we receive a substantive response.