Nvidia and AMD are reportedly planning to launch ARM-based CPUs for Windows PCs.
The report comes from Reuters (via The Verge), which cites two people familiar with Nvidia’s plans and two people familiar with AMD’s plans. The companies could have ARM-based PC chips ready as soon as 2025. The pair would join Qualcomm, which has been making ARM chips for laptops since 2016. Qualcomm and Microsoft previously partnered on custom chips for some Surface devices.
Reuters says Microsoft wants to help chip companies build ARM-based CPUs to help Windows PCs take on Apple. The publication notes that Apple has nearly doubled its market share in the three years since it started shipping laptops with its in-house ARM-based chips.
Apple’s chips have allowed the company to offer compelling performance alongside excellent battery life and power consumption across its laptops, tablets, and desktops. A source told Reuters that Microsoft wants to attain similar performance and efficiency to Apple’s chips, especially in AI processing.
If AMD and Nvidia launch ARM-based chips, it’d put significant pressure on Intel to improve its own chip offerings. Intel has long been a dominant force in the PC market with its x86 chips, but the company has struggled in recent years to offer both performance and efficiency in its chips, leaving laptop owners in a lurch. In my experience testing out laptops over the last few years, I’ve found Intel-based devices force me to choose between performance with mediocre battery life or okay battery life with disappointing performance. It’s worth noting that AMD is already challenging Intel’s dominance with its own x86 chips.
AMD and Nvidia launching ARM chips would also put pressure on Qualcomm, which has offered underwhelming ARM-based laptop chips for years. There’s also the software question. Microsoft has put a lot of work into building Windows for ARM, but decades of software and apps built for x86 architecture have made the transition difficult. That’s changing slowly, but every ARM-based laptop I’ve tried in the last few years has had subpar performance and a lack of ARM-based apps. In my Surface Pro 9 review, which sports the Microsoft and Qualcomm custom SQ3 chip, I noted that everything on the device felt “a little slower than I’m used to.”
Moreover, as The Verge points out, Microsoft reportedly is working on its own ARM-based server chips and, possibly, Surface chips too.
Ultimately, I’m looking forward to what AMD and Nvidia launch in 2025. Obviously, there’s no guarantee these chips will be good, or better than what’s already on the market, but both companies have been building PC chips for years and should have the resources to make compelling options. And if the ARM-based chips turn out good, it could push the Windows PC market forward.
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