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Windows on ARM Laptops Reportedly Hamstrung by Qualcomm, but That Might Soon Change

posted by janrinok on Tuesday November 23 2021, @05:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the exclusive-doesn't-always-mean-better dept.

aristarchus writes:

Gizmodo says:

Let your Mac-owning friends boast all they want about the blinding speeds of Apple's new M-series chips, because who needs fast performance when you have freedom of choice? That's one of the benefits of buying a PC—or at least, it's supposed to be.

It turns out Microsoft might have been restricting the hardware powering certain Windows 11 laptops. According to XDA Developers, ARM-based Windows devices have only been powered by one brand of processor because of an exclusive deal between Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Want Windows on ARM laptop without a Qualcomm chip? Sorry, it doesn't exist. At least, not yet. Multiple people familiar with the deal told XDA that the agreement between these tech giants is "set to expire soon," but a specific timeline was not given.

[...] That certainly isn't due to a lack of trying. Microsoft announced Windows on ARM in 2016 with the ability to run 32-bit, x86 apps via an emulator. A few years later, the company launched the Surface Pro X, an ARM-based version of its Surface Pro tablets running on a custom version of the Snapdragon 8cx SoC. It was critically panned for being overpriced and underpowered, along with software compatibility issues. Microsoft addressed that last issue recently by bringing 64-bit, x84 emulation to Windows 11 (but abandoned plans to do so for Windows 10).

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday November 23 2021, @05:17PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Tuesday November 23 2021, @05:17PM (#1198946) Journal

    This "secret" exclusivity deal [macrumors.com] prevented Windows on Apple M1 [soylentnews.org] from being a thing, and generally locked Windows on ARM onto a few underpowered, overpriced Qualcomm chips like the Snapdragon 8cx, 8c, and 7c.

    Going forward we could see Windows 11 running on MediaTek ARM chips [theregister.com], and Qualcomm's hyped Nuvia acquisition [anandtech.com] could result in much better ARM chips capable of competing with Apple on performance/efficiency around 2023. Because apparently these companies have to hire ex-Apple engineers to make a decent ARM chip.

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @07:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @07:08PM (#1198980)

    You still need someone to write the drivers but I'm hoping Windows 11 will boot on my Pinephone Pro.