2025 will be the year Arm dominates PCs

Qualcomm’s 2024 debut of new Arm processors for Windows laptops was arguably the most important PC hardware announcement since the introduction of Intel’s 486 processors in 1989. Just as that CPU line heralded an age of Intel-driven x86 dominance, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips have now taken us into a new era of competition.

But 2024 was only the preview. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon debut was limited, targeting a specific subset of premium, thin-and-light Windows laptops that don’t require discrete graphics. 2025 will be the year that shows us the true extent of Arm innovation in PCs.

I spoke with two expert analysts in the hardware space for insights on how Arm PCs will continue to grow going forward.

Qualcomm chips will expand their reach

The launch of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite was bumpy, to say the least. Microsoft branded those new Qualcomm-powered laptops as “Copilot+ PCs” and touted their AI performance, only to recall their headline feature at launch due to public backlash. After multiple delays, it’s just now trickling out to Windows Insiders.

“I think the messaging fell apart largely due to Microsoft having the snafu with Recall,” says Leonard Lee, executive analyst and founder at Next Curve, who has decades of experience in technology and business strategy, business and product innovation, and market intelligence.

When it comes to the hardware, though, Snapdragon X Elite has proven its worth with reviewers, analysts, and enthusiasts. Lee says Snapdragon improved the performance-per-watt for Windows laptops, regardless of AI workloads. If you want a laptop with high performance and ample battery life, those Snapdragon PCs are modern trailblazers.

Matthew Smith / IDG

Anshel Sag, vice president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, agreed with Lee and had special praise for the less expensive Snapdragon X Plus chips that are now available in $800 laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1. “I think they’re going to kill it with that eight-core chip,” says Sag. “It’s performant and delivers an experience that wasn’t possible at that price point.”

Though we’re already seeing these less expensive Snapdragon chips in laptops, CES 2025 (which takes place in January) is likely to become the platform from which laptop makers launch a new salvo of competitively priced Snapdragon-powered machines.

The one thing that’s still missing, though, is a “halo product.” Qualcomm is rumored to be working on an upscaled Snapdragon X Elite chip, with up to 18 processor cores (current chips have up to 12). Whether we’ll see such a chip in 2025 is hard to say, but it’s not hard to imagine.

Qualcomm’s current hardware also lacks support for discrete GPUs, which excludes them from most workstation and gaming laptops. Adding support for discrete graphics could expand Snapdragon to new areas.

Nvidia and MediaTek will enter the ring

There’s absolutely no doubt that more Qualcomm Snapdragon X hardware will show up in 2025. If there’s any question, it’s this: Will more companies enter the Arm PC market?

MediaTek and Nvidia are obvious candidates. MediaTek already produces Arm chips for a wide variety of devices, including ChromeOS laptops. Nvidia also has experience producing Arm SoCs (such as Tegra) and uses Arm cores in its datacenter CPUs. Rumors suggest they’ve partnered together to make new Arm chips starting next year.

Sag says this partnership, if it happens, could be complex. “I think the only way MediaTek could do it is if they work with Nvidia, so they don’t have to worry about graphics drivers.” He predicts that MediaTek could partner with Nvidia by licensing an RTX GPU, something they’ve done previously for their Dimensity Auto SoC (for self-driving vehicles).

Lee also felt this prospective partnership will be tricky to navigate. “Just because you’re Nvidia and you’re the king of GPUs doesn’t mean you have an automatic win,” says Lee. “You need the CPU, the GPU, and now the NPU. I don’t think MediaTek or Nvidia have any inherent advantage here versus Qualcomm.”

Matthew Smith / IDG

And it’s not just about Windows PCs. Sag thinks MediaTek’s play in laptops is still strongest with ChromeOS. “I believe that Google is basically going to make ChromeOS run as Android. And I think MediaTek is going to go after that,” he says. He might be right on the money there, with sources indicating that Google is indeed turning ChromeOS into Android and making Android into a unified desktop OS.

The threat of such a move from Google shouldn’t be discounted. Though Google’s efforts to bring AI features into Chrome have gained less public attention than Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC push, they aren’t insubstantial. Many users on the latest version of ChromeOS already have access to AI features like Gemini, Google’s own AI large language model, which can be used for summarization, translation, and other tasks.

Personally, I think a renovated ChromeOS powered by MediaTek chips (which tend to allow lower pricing) and infused with AI features already found in Pixel smartphones could outflank Microsoft’s blundering attempt to add AI to Windows PCs.

How will x86 PCs defend their turf?

2025 will likely see a surge in Arm-powered Windows and ChromeOS laptops, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to put x86 out to pasture.

On the contrary, x86’s continued relevance is precisely what makes the new era of Windows different from the last three decades. PC hardware will no longer be dominated by one company or one instruction set, but instead span multiple instruction sets and chip makers.

Mark Hachman / IDG

“Intel and AMD have demonstrated they can put a competitive offering out there that’s x86-based,” says Lee. He points out that Intel’s new Lunar Lake chips and AMD’s new Ryzen AI line are highly competitive with Qualcomm on performance and battery life. Laptops like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, which we reviewed with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V CPU inside, can exceed 20 hours of battery life just like their Qualcomm-powered counterparts.

This competition will benefit you, the laptop shopper and enthusiast. It means more options and lower prices. Sag says it should also benefit the OEMs, such as Asus, Lenovo, and Dell.

“The complexity is challenging, but OEMs are optimistic about how it works out for them,” says Sag. “I’m seeing a level of silicon that’s never existed in the industry. And it’s cool because I’m hearing about prototypes and concepts — things that I never would’ve thought of happening — from OEMs I never would’ve expected it from.”