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Windows laptops are having a moment. Here’s why it’s a big deal
Is Intel cooked?
Several years ago, Apple made a big promise. The tech giant vowed to replace the processor in all of its Mac machines by 2022 and replace them with an SoC, or “system on a chip.” In essence, this means that the entire operating system, graphics card, and memory can be installed on a single chip.
Sure, there are some downsides, most notably being that the processor and graphics card are impossible to replace without replacing the entire machine. You can’t have one without the other. That’s the trade-off. What you get is miles of efficiency.
My M2 MacBook Pro can go days without being charged if needed. A MacBook Air can go even longer. Because the processor and other units are built and designed specifically for the piece of hardware it is being installed to, the entire machine is far more efficient than any other laptop you can buy. The alternative is that Lenovo or some other company manufactures a laptop, they go to Intel for the processor and Intel sells them a “one size fits all” chip that may not work well with the other hardware inside.
This pays off with Apple’s MacBooks. The M1 MacBook Air outperformed an Intel-based MacBook Pro. It was real, it was legit, and it was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.
But then I thought: what if Microsoft did the same thing?
It turns out, they actually can. Windows has been trying to do this for awhile. I didn’t think it would actually happen until it did because they kept promising that it was coming. But they are finally here.
This brings me to the new 2024 Microsoft Surface laptops. They don’t use Intel or AMD processors. They don’t use a third-party GPU. This is the first time that Microsoft has put ARM architecture inside a flagship product.
It works, too. Preliminary reviews have noted that the experience of using a Windows ARM machine is mostly indistinguishable from an Intel or AMD machine. Like Apple’s first dabble with its own silicon, unless you ran into a few compatibility issues, you couldn’t even notice that you were using it. Some have said that there are missteps in trying to play certain games or run certain software. Yes, this is a transition layer. Apps need to be optimized for ARM.
But it’s still impressive. If this is as successful as it can be, what is stopping any laptop from being ARM architecture? Could there be a situation in which most laptops made are ARM and not Intel/AMD. Even a lot of the recent Chromebooks are ARM-based.
Unless you’re a gamer, I can’t find a reason to avoid ARM-based laptops. And sure, custom PCs will always exist. They have to. There is a dedicated group of users who love building a custom gaming rig.
Intel is in trouble. Will they come out on the other side?
