The Rise of ARM on Windows is Almost Here

 ARM processors in Windows machines aren't anything new.  However, it's typically been low-power, low-performance devices that are not in the same league as traditional x86 processors.  That's about to change and Qualcomm has brought their Snapdragon Elite X to their Snapdragon Summit and proof to back it up.  They may not be alone either.  2024 could be an exciting year for PCs

Revolution on Repeat 

If what you’re about to hear sounds familiar, it should.  It’s going to be very familiar to the Mac’s own transition from Intel to Apple Silicon.  Qualcomm is adapting the mobile SoC model to desktop computers.  There’s going to be a lot of talk about efficiency and power per watt. Essentially, Qualcomm is using Apple’s playbook here, but bringing it to Windows.  

If You Can't Beat Them, Buy Their Talent 

The road to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite X doesn’t just start with using Apple’s playbook, it starts in the halls of Cupertino itself.  In 2021, Qualcomm bought Nuvia, a startup founded by ex-Apple chip engineers Gerard Williams, John Bruno, and Manu Gulati.  Williams was so key to the operation that Apple sued him after founding Nuvia.

Fast forward a couple of years and Qualcomm is finally seeing the fruits of their labor come to pass.  If the real-world performance is anything like what Qualcomm talked about at the summit, Intel should be very worried.

Oryon The Hunter 

According to an article from Windows Central’s Daniel Rubino, Qualcomm released some early benchmarks of the Snapdragon X Elite SoC using the new Oryon CPU.  They are extremely impressive.  In a 12-core configuration, benchmarking scores seemed to be competitive to Apple’s M2 series in Single and multi-threaded scores as well as graphics, while achieving a thermal envelope similar to Apple’s Macs; sipping just 23w of power.  

For higher-end laptops, Qualcomm also showed off a version for laptops with better cooling systems that can use up to 80w.  These are not final chips, they won’t be arriving for at least six months, but both versions blew away the power-hungry competitors from Intel and AMD.  This is especially true on battery power where x86 laptops typically throttle down considerably.  Like the Macs, The Snapdragon X Elites in the 23w configuration should be able go on battery power with full performance with the fans barely audible.  Assuming They can meet demand, Qualcomm’s next-generation SoCs should be very popular in laptops and small-form-factor desktops.

Nvidia and AMD 

Graphics powerhouses Nvidia and AMD are also rumored to be releasing their own ARM offerings for consumer PCs in the future.  Unlike Qualcomm, we do not know much about what these offerings will entail, but it doesn’t take much to imagine they would be highly competitive.  Nvidia, in fact, unsuccessfully tried to buy ARM.  

Final Word: Where Does This Leave Intel and x86?

There’s one constant in the world: all things end.  Intel’s x86 ISA has been the most successful in history, but there’s only so far you can brute force something.  Intel has not shown itself to be able to match the efficiency of its ARM rivals.  They’ve been down before, but I don’t see a comeback this time.  2024 is going to be the year that ARM becomes the dominant platform in most computing devices.