Microsoft’s new Copilot Plus PCs are designed to go head-to-head with Apple’s MacBook Air. The software giant has spent years getting ready for its own M1 moment.

Microsoft was right about one thing back in April. The company said it was confident that its upcoming Arm-powered Windows laptops would beat the performance of the M3 MacBook Air.

Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that Microsoft is confident that a round of new Arm-powered Windows laptops will beat Apple’s M3-powered MacBook Air both in CPU ...