Forward of Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit, the corporate simply introduced particulars about its new Arm processors for PCs titled Snapdragon X. In response to Qualcomm (by way of Ars Technica), Snapdragon X will embody a brand new CPU structure known as Oryon, GPU cores, and an NPU that takes benefit of generative AI.
These Snapdragon X chips received’t arrive till 2024, however they might probably skyrocket Qualcomm right into a aggressive area with AMD and Intel, two corporations dominating the laptop computer area proper now. Qualcomm has been making PC chips for some time, however they haven’t been capable of compete performance-wise with AMD or Intel chips for a wide range of causes.
This time, nevertheless, it’ll be a unique story as a result of Snapdragon X chips are the primary ones created since Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia in 2021. This acquisition occurred as a part of an effort by Qualcomm to create chips that may rival Apple’s Silicon chips. Snapdragon X chips may very properly make 2024 the 12 months for Arm-powered PCs.
What is the hype round Nuvia-based Qualcomm chips?
Should you don’t comply with the world of laptop computer chips, it is likely to be complicated why Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia lastly means higher, extra highly effective chips. Nuvia was a startup based by former Apple workers, just a few of which labored on Apple’s transition to its common Silicon chips. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia figuring out this, hoping that it may construct its personal chip-architect group that might compete with Apple and different trade leaders.
Shortly after the acquisition, Apple sued a Nuvia co-founder and the present Qualcomm engineering SVP for stealing Apple workers. Apple dropped the lawsuit earlier this 12 months, however the menace behind the go well with left individuals questioning whether or not Qualcomm was onto one thing.
Wanting again to our interview with Qualcomm final 12 monthswe requested whether or not Qualcomm’s Nuvia-based laptops (which had been initially projected to reach by the top of this 12 months) is likely to be the breakthrough gadgets Qualcomm’s been ready for within the laptop computer market. On the time, the Senior Director of Product Administration for Snapdragon Chipset at Qualcomm, Nitin Kumar, was fast to say sure, but additionally famous Qualcomm’s at the moment profitable merchandise, just like the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s.
We’ve since reviewed this laptop computer and famous its wonderful battery life, strong construct, and top-notch keyboard and show, however there have been clear incompatibilities with Home windows on ARM software program. This present incompatibility is probably going the largest hurdle to leap for an ARM-powered PC. Ars Technica notes that “some Home windows apps and nearly all Home windows drivers written for x86 PCs nonetheless received’t work within the Arm model of the software program.”
Should you take a look at Apple’s M1 and M2 chips, it’s clear that chip designers can use a customized design with the identical Arm instruction set to ship a battery-efficient and performance-efficient chip. Apple managed emigrate pretty seamlessly from Intel to Apple Silicon Macs, so the hope is that Qualcomm can do the identical with the brand new data and abilities held by the acquired Nuvia group.
We’ll have to attend till subsequent 12 months to get our arms on laptops geared up with Snapdragon X chips, and see if they honestly provide a efficiency expertise that rivals AMD or Intel, however the outlook is nice proper now. Later this month, we’ll be on the Snapdragon Summit, so we’ll have extra to report on Qualcomm’s newest choices then.
Again to Ultrabook Laptops
