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More Windows laptops to be ‘ARM Inside’ as Microsoft follows Mac lead

A few Windows laptops are already powered by ARM CPUs rather than Intel ones, but we can expect to see a lot more in the future.

A new report says that Microsoft is accelerating efforts to overcome the current limitations of these, so that more PC brands can follow Apple’s example in using ARM chips …

Apple’s switch from Intel to ARM

Apple had long had the aim of switching its Mac line-up from Intel CPUs to its own chip designs, created using ARM architecture, and built by TSMC.

The most immediate reason for the switch was Apple’s frustration at Intel’s slow pace of development, and the fact that Mac upgrade cycles were dependent on Intel CPU releases.

But the bigger picture was that Apple wanted to be able to take advantage of the same deep hardware and software integration it gets from using its own chip designs in iPhones and iPads.

Additionally, the power-efficiency of ARM architecture makes possible far longer battery-life than was possible with Intel chips.

Windows laptops with ARM chips are currently limited

There are already some ARM-based Windows laptops, but these are currently kind of second-class machines, with Microsoft pointing to a number of key limitations.

  • Drivers for hardware, games and apps will only work if they’re designed for a Windows 11 Arm-based PC. For more info, check with the hardware manufacturer or the organization that developed the driver. Drivers are software programs that communicate with hardware devices—they’re commonly used for antivirus and antimalware software, printing or PDF software, assistive technologies, CD and DVD utilities, and virtualization software.
    If a driver doesn’t work, the app or hardware that relies on it won’t work either (at least not fully). Peripherals and devices only work if the drivers they depend on are built into Windows 11, or if the hardware developer has released Arm64 drivers for the device.
  • Certain games won’t work. Games and apps may not work if they use a version of OpenGL greater than 3.3, or if they rely on “anti-cheat” drivers that haven’t been made for Windows 11 Arm-based PCs. Check with your game publisher to see if a game will work.
  • Apps that customize the Windows experience might have problems. This includes some input method editors (IMEs), assistive technologies, and cloud storage apps. The organization that develops the app determines whether their app will work on a Windows 11 Arm-based PC.

This means that anyone wanting a powerful Windows laptop today is stuck with Intel ones.

But that’s changing

The WSJ reports that Microsoft is aiming to get Windows working fully on ARM chips, in part by using a cloud-based approach.

These days, it’s not just Apple moving away from Intel’s chips. Microsoft is accelerating its years-long effort to make Windows run on ARM-based processors, so that the entire PC ecosystem isn’t doomed by Intel’s failure to keep up with Apple and TSMC.

That, says the piece, is another nail in Intel’s coffin.

The Mac and Google’s Chromebooks are already eating the market share of Windows-based, Intel-powered devices. As for Windows-based devices, all signs point to their increasingly being based on non-Intel processors. Finally, Windows is likely to run on the cloud in the future, where it will also run on non-Intel chips.

Top comment by Stuart Malone

Liked by 7 people

I've been developing Windows software from a Mac running Parallels for over a decade, and I was nervous that Apple's switch to ARM would force me to buy a Windows machine.

At first it was rough, but now Parallels supports Windows on ARM through the Windows Insider Program, and Microsoft has ported Visual Studio to run natively on ARM. The other Windows software I need that isn't native still runs faster in emulation than it does natively on my iMac Pro.

Another surprise has been gaming. While no one is going to buy a Windows ARM machine for gaming, the older Steam games I've tried (like Skyrim) actually run better under Parallels on my MacBook Pro than they run in Boot Camp on my iMac Pro.

At this point, I actually prefer running Windows on my M1 Max MacBook Pro. A lot will depend on whether PC manufacturers manage to come up with silicon competitive with Apple's, but Microsoft is largely ready now.

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The cloud-based solution will likely prove most appealing to enterprise users.

Microsoft is working to make Windows and the rest of its software accessible in the cloud, which can save money for customers because it lets them use computers that are much cheaper and simpler than conventional PCs […] And the version of Windows that workers are accessing remotely, in the cloud, can run on ARM-based chips in the data center too.

Microsoft is already using this approach to let people run Windows apps on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger maintains that the US chipmaker hasn’t given up on catching up with Apple.

One key reason for the performance of Apple Silicon is what’s known as the packaging process: combining CPU, GPU, and memory into a single unit. Intel is now adopting the same approach, with Gelsinger claiming to catch up with Apple by next year.

The founder of Apple chipmaker TSMC is unconvinced. Morris Chang said that Intel won’t catch up, and will remain “a shadow of TSMC.”

Photo: Badar ul islam Majid/Unsplash

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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