by We’ve already reported on Qualcomm’s new 12-core Arm uberchip, the Snapdragon X Elite, and its claims of x86-beating performance and efficiency. But it takes two to tango when it comes to a big transition like moving from x86 CPUs to handheld chips. You don’t just need hardware, you also need software.
And that, dear PC fans, is apparently where Windows 12 comes in. Reports suggest that Microsoft is planning to add specific support for Snapdragon X Elite in future builds of Windows.
Specifically, Microsoft is said to be working on a new build of Windows, codenamed Germanium, that supports Snapdragon X Elite (via Windows Central). The current Windows-for_arm builds of Microsoft’s operating system are said not to be ready for Snapdragon X Elite. So the chip will have to stay with Germanium.
Now, Germany is set to be released in April. And laptops with the all-important German-Snapdragon X Elite combo will allegedly appear in June. So, halfway through 2024, we should know if 2024 will be the hand-powered step change for the computer.
By way of background, it’s worth remembering why the PC has yet to make a significant transition to Arm CPU architectures, despite having been predicted for years and Apple moving to Arm throughout its product stack.
A decade or so ago, the assumption was that Arm was only suitable for low power applications. You needed x86 for high performance. But ‘A’ and ‘M’ chips proved Apple wrong. Apple’s Arm cores now have significantly higher performance per clock cycle than any traditional x86 PC processor.
Sure, the top x86 chips give even better CPU performance thanks to higher clocks and core counters. But Apple has proven that Arm can compete and then some for basic number crunching grunt.
Recently, the PC’s transition to Arm has been held back by Qualcomm’s exclusive licensing deal to provide Arm hardware for compatible Windows builds. That arrangement expires next year, opening the market for anyone to have a crack.
Of course, it is somewhat ironic that it is indeed Qualcomm that seems to be the first out of the gate with the appearance of a chip that could do for the computer what Apple did silicon for Macs.
But hopefully Qualcomm will have some serious competition on its hands fairly soon. Nvidia is said to be preparing its own handheld chip for 2025. AMD is also said to be working on a Handheld CPU, although no release date has been mentioned.
And in case you’ve forgotten, that huge leaked data dump from Microsoft revealed that it’s considering using Arm CPU cores for its next Xbox games console. Factor all together, and it is certain that Arm hardware on the computer will hit critical mass in the coming years.
But what about the software side of the equation. It’s clear that Microsoft already has a handheld compatible build of Windows. But one critical area where it can be argued that the Hand versions of Windows have failed to deliver is support for legacy x86 code. Eventually, you might expect all major software to be ported to Arm. But during any transition phase, support for legacy x86 software will certainly be critical.
Windows 10 for Arm, of course, included emulation technology that enabled existing unmodified 32-bit x86 apps to run on Arm devices. Windows 11 upped the ante to add support for legacy 64-bit software and apps.
But so far performance and stability have been patchy. Simple apps, including some older games, usually work, but performance and stability on more demanding software is much more hit and miss. And then there’s the pesky issue of driver support. Many hardware that require custom drivers do not work.
This is exactly where Apple did a very good job. It’s easier for Apple, of course, because it controls all the hardware and software. Apple has been able to include features in its A and M series chips under arm power specifically designed to emulate x86 acceleration, paving the way for the transition away from Intel’s x86 chips and onto its own arm designs.
Old Apple x86 software runs very well on Apple silicon, and that even includes some games. It’s a handy demonstration of what can be done and what needs to be done if an Army is to be truly viable on the computer.
Of course, the games are perhaps the most difficult challenge of any imitation effort. And so gaming PCs will be the ultimate base of x86 PC hardware.
But Apple has proven how well it can emulate and both Qualcomm and Nvidia have every reason to put a lot of effort into making chips that emulate x86 software as well as possible. Neither is licensed to make x86 CPUs. So, if they want to gain traction in the computer processor market, they need handheld chips that emulate x86 CPU cores well.
This way, you just know that Nvidia would love to be able to build you a complete PC, controlling both the CPU and the GPU and completely cutting out AMD and Intel. That would put it on par with the main competition on the PC. Thanks to Intel’s push into graphics, it and AMD can make the two main components, leaving Nvidia swinging in the wind and dependent on platform support from Intel or AMD. He can’t be happy with that situation.
Steam in your hands
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However, what neither Nvidia nor Qualcomm can do, nor AMD for that matter if it interfered with the Hand action, is to ensure that Microsoft delivers half of the equation. So far, there’s no doubt that Microsoft’s efforts with Windows on Arm have been half-hearted. But if Microsoft is making a separate build of Windows for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, that suggests that Microsoft, too, is getting its act together.
And, of course, if the next Xbox console actually goes with Arm cores instead of x86 cores, that will automatically mean that most major games will have an Arm path from the start.
So, yes, we’ve all heard it before. Industry analysts predict that the Army will assimilate the computer for years. But it could really be happening this time, it really could.
