WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 If you've been looking for a Windows laptop or tablet, there are actually quite a few systems 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.880 that are now featuring Qualcomm processors. 00:00:06.880 --> 00:00:12.400 That's right, the same company that probably made the chip that's sitting inside your Android smartphone. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:18.080 But why the heck are they putting ARM architecture Qualcomm chips in Windows computers 00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:21.840 instead of the x86 architecture CPUs from AMD and Intel 00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:27.200 that we're all used to? Is this kind of like what Apple's doing with their ARM-based M1 chips? 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.560 Well, yes and no. So as consumer-grade ARM chips have become 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:37.680 more and more capable in recent years, I mean just think about how much more powerful smartphones 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:41.760 are than they were a decade ago. It's become clear that you don't necessarily need 00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:44.800 a high-powered x86 chip to handle common tasks 00:00:44.800 --> 00:00:49.600 like watching videos, shopping online, or working inside of an office suite. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.600 So Windows on ARM was conceived as a way to give laptop and tablet users 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.800 the full Windows experience they're already familiar with, 00:00:56.800 --> 00:01:02.880 but with significantly better battery life as ARM chips tend to use less power than x86 ones. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:09.040 Windows on ARM first appeared in 2018, so we were well into the era of smartphones 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:14.240 as do-it-all devices by the time it showed up. But it wasn't especially well received. 00:01:14.240 --> 00:01:18.080 Users complained that the Qualcomm-based systems were rather sluggish, 00:01:18.080 --> 00:01:22.480 and it certainly didn't help that the first systems used the Snapdragon 835, 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:27.520 an already year-old chip that was designed more with phones in mind than laptops. 00:01:27.520 --> 00:01:33.040 So while it was cool that Snapdragon gave these laptops 4G connectivity, basically by default, 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:37.200 that wasn't exactly a feature that made up for generally poor performance, 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.400 meaning they didn't get off to the rock and start that Apple did. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.240 Another contributor is the fact that Windows for ARM doesn't have the advantage 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:49.840 of a vertically integrated company behind it making the hardware and software go hand-in-glove together. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:56.320 Another issue was that early Windows on ARM machines couldn't support many common Windows programs natively. 00:01:56.320 --> 00:01:59.520 Windows itself and apps offered through the Microsoft Store 00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:04.080 were specifically written for ARM chips, but other programs had to be emulated, 00:02:04.080 --> 00:02:10.560 which is to say basically they had to be translated from x86 instructions to ARM instructions in real time, 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.120 which taxed the CPU and resulted in even worse performance. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:19.840 Making matters even worse, increasingly common X64 applications, 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:24.160 so the 64-bit version of x86, wouldn't run at all, 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:28.480 as Windows for ARM didn't originally feature an X64 emulator. 00:02:28.480 --> 00:02:33.520 So Microsoft's plan wasn't to just leave Windows on ARM running on weak hardware with poor software support. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.360 Qualcomm started to come out with chips like the Snapdragon 8CX, 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.480 which was specifically designed for laptops and tablets 00:02:40.480 --> 00:02:43.680 and packed a much bigger punch than the reused phone chips. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:48.320 Microsoft then tweaked the 8CX and created their own version of it called the SQ1, 00:02:48.320 --> 00:02:51.760 which made its way into their Surface Pro tablet lineup in 2019. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.800 Qualcomm then expanded the chip product line to cover more price and performance tiers, 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.760 and while their new lineup still hasn't caught up to Intel or AMD in terms of performance, 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:06.160 the newest chip set to be released at the time we shot this video had a multi-core performance score 00:03:06.160 --> 00:03:09.440 in Geekbench comparable to a Ryzen 5 2000 series. 00:03:09.440 --> 00:03:13.840 So it's definitely nothing to... Excuse me, sneeze at. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.520 Indeed, reviews of more recent devices have noted snappier performance 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.280 combined with multi-day battery life, and we should see better compatibility 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:27.360 with third-party apps going forward. Windows 11 is finally introducing support for x64 programs, 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.120 though the feature has notably been removed from Windows 10 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:34.640 since Windows 11 came out. Okay. 00:03:34.640 --> 00:03:40.720 The way Windows on ARM handles emulation has also been streamlined, with Windows 11 being able to emulate portions of programs 00:03:40.720 --> 00:03:47.680 that haven't been ported over to run natively on ARM. So developers can actually run combinations of x86 and 64 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.920 and ARM code at the same time if they have a program that isn't fully written for ARM yet, 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:55.520 which is super cool. Microsoft has also made more developer tools 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.720 available to programmers, which should encourage more software studios 00:03:58.720 --> 00:04:02.240 to write for Windows on ARM. In fact, Adobe has recently rolled out 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:07.520 native Windows on ARM versions of Photoshop and Lightroom with more of the creative suite apps to follow. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.800 Of course, Windows for ARM isn't a magic bullet for solving the performance versus battery life problem, 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.320 especially if Qualcomm is the only one building chips, 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:20.400 and they have been. Microsoft has had an exclusivity deal with Qualcomm 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:24.400 for Windows on ARM PCs, though that is reportedly ending soon, 00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:27.680 meaning we could see more competition coming down the road. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.880 In fact, it appears the industry may be moving more toward getting chip fabricators like TSMC 00:04:32.880 --> 00:04:36.240 to directly customize off-the-rack ARM designs 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:42.000 instead of buying whatever Qualcomm is offering. That way, other chip makers that want to get their hardware 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.800 inside Windows for ARM systems can bring their own innovations, maybe resulting in higher levels of performance 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.880 and allowing Windows on ARM to become a true rival to Apple's M-Series ecosystem. 00:04:51.440 --> 00:04:54.960 Just be prepared to shell out some money if you want the best performance you can get 00:04:54.960 --> 00:05:01.840 on a Windows on ARM device, as these laptops sell for amounts that rival higher-end x86-64 systems, 00:05:02.880 --> 00:05:06.640 but with obviously less performance. But better battery, right? 00:05:07.200 --> 00:05:10.320 I mean, who needs a charger? Thanks for watching, guys. 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:13.360 Like or dislike, depending on how you feel. Check out our other videos, 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.480 comment with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe.