At this year’s Computex, it will be PC vs PC

Get ready to witness a variety of PCs based on ARM and x86 architecture.

Computex 2024 will commence on June 4 (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)

The introduction of ARM-based Macs initially gave Apple an edge in the Mac vs PC competition. However, the emergence of Snapdragon X series-powered Copilot+ laptops signals a resurgence for PCs, now competing even within the Windows ecosystem. The upcoming Computex 2024 will likely highlight this shift.

Microsoft’s unveiling of Copilot+ PCs, powered by Snapdragon X Elite/Plus CPUs and running Windows 11 with on-device generative AI-enabled features like recall, marks a significant development. While Intel and AMD-powered Copilot+ PCs are on the horizon, Microsoft’s partnership with Qualcomm underscores a shift away from x86 dominance, leveling the playing field for ARM in the Windows ecosystem.

It’s Windows vs Windows

One of the first Copilot+ branded PCs (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

We have seen ARM-powered Windows PCs before, but the current surge involves major OEMs like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung alongside Microsoft, all offering Copilot+ PCs featuring Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus processors. These PCs are currently exclusive to Qualcomm chips, but that’s set to change.

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Presently, only Qualcomm provides the dedicated NPU with at least 40 TOPs of performance required for Copilot+ PCs with features like recall. However, both Intel and AMD have hinted at their solutions, suggesting x86-based Copilot+ PCs could emerge by the end of 2024.

The game of numbers

During the Copilot+ launch event, Microsoft mostly compared the performance of its latest Surface Pro and Surface Laptop with MacBooks, a fair comparison given their shared architecture. However, the company also unveiled surprising figures, demonstrating that the ARM-based Surface machines are notably more powerful and power-efficient than their predecessors.

Microsoft asserts that the new Copilot+ branded Surface Laptop and Surface Pro can outperform a 15-inch M3 MacBook Air by up to 58 per cent on the multi-core CPU benchmark, while offering 20 per cent more battery life. However, these are preliminary figures, and the real-world performance of these ARM-based PCs remains to be seen. To achieve maturity akin to Apple Silicon, more developers must introduce their apps natively on ARM—a trend Microsoft claims is gaining momentum.

Many prominent software developers, including Adobe, DaVinci Resolve Studio, and djay Pro, have already committed to launching native ARM-based solutions for Copilot+ PCs, harnessing the capabilities of the new NPU.

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While Microsoft hasn’t published the comparison numbers between the two generations of Surface devices, the latest iteration is almost certain to be more powerful and efficient. The upcoming Lunar Lake chips from Intel and Strix Point from AMD need to deliver both on the performance and efficiency front to keep the race on, which will be unveiled at Computex 2024.

Unlike Apple, Windows PCs are likely to remain diverse

Apple fully transitioned from x86 to Apple Silicon a few months ago, while PCs are likely to remain a diverse platform, where we will see laptops available with either ARM or an x86 chip.

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