2024 was a big year for Windows on Arm

I still can’t believe I’m using an Arm-based Windows laptop every day. After more than a decade of hard work to make Windows on Arm a reality, Microsoft and Qualcomm finally achieved that goal this year Copilot Plus Computer. These new laptops have great battery life and great performance, and the app compatibility issues that plagued Windows on Arm are basically a thing of the past (as long as you’re not a gamer). Microsoft wants 2024 to be the “Year of the AI ​​PC,” but I think it’s very much the year of Windows on Arm. If 2024 is any standard, 2025 will be even more important for Windows on Arm.

Microsoft laid the groundwork for a 2024 Windows on Arm release at CES in January, promising AI PCs and the first major changes to Windows keyboards in 30 years. Laptop makers are starting to invest copilot key on keyboard Earlier this year, quick access to Microsoft AI Assistant was provided. Although the Copilot experience on Windows has gone through Several confusing revisionsit’s still a button I press accidentally and then get frustrated when the passenger window appears.

After encountering the co-pilot key cold reception,Microsoft Reigniting the Mac vs. PC war A few months later. In the first few months of 2024, confidence grew within Microsoft that it would finally be able to beat Apple’s MacBook Air after years of lagging behind. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella launched the company’s new Copilot Plus PC device at a special event in May, setting the stage for major OEMs to launch Windows on Arm laptops in the summer.

The key to this year’s Windows on Arm resurgence is Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processorwhich was announced in April. They deliver performance and energy efficiency previously only available in Apple MacBooks, and challenge Intel and AMD to do better in the x86 space. After many arguments Microsoft MacBook Air beats benchmarksComment Come in And shows that Windows on Arm is indeed capable of matching and beating Apple’s MacBook Air. Qualcomm even hired people from “I am Mac” to Promoting Windows on Arm PCswhich shows how confident it is to challenge Apple’s dominance of notebook computers.

Microsoft and Qualcomm are also working closely with developers Make critical applications compatibleit is now rare to encounter application compatibility issues that cannot be resolved by the native Arm64 version or Microsoft’s improved emulator. Even Google, which had previously shunned Windows Phone, created Arm64 version of Chrome and Google Drive Support Microsoft’s efforts. Switching to Windows on Arm laptops is getting easier as developers continue to offer native versions of their apps. The only big exception is gaming, where x86 still dominates in terms of compatibility and performance.

While the hype around Windows on Arm is building, Intel isn’t sitting back, and neither is AMD. Intel Counterattack with Moon Lake At IFA in September, it delivered impressive performance and battery life improvements. AMD’s latest Ryzen AI chips also compete directly with Qualcomm, and both AMD and Intel have the key advantage of gaming compatibility, Windows on Arm is definitely not ready yet for.

While we’re still waiting for an M4-equipped MacBook Air, Apple did update its cheapest MacBook in October with Surprise memory upgrade to 16GB. Apple may think this has something to do with Apple Intelligence, but this unusual change comes just months after the launch of the Copilot Plus PC, which started with 16GB of RAM and was priced to challenge the MacBook Air. Apple did manage to squeeze its new M4 chip into Recent MacBook ProHowever, this shows that Qualcomm still has some shortcomings to make up for in 2025.

Both Apple and Microsoft have focused on artificial intelligence capabilities in laptops this year, but the end results have been less than expected. While the initial buzz around Copilot Plus PCs centered around Windows on Arm, Microsoft also launched some Windows AI features on these devices in June.

The flagship feature should be “Recall,” which takes a snapshot of almost everything you do on your laptop and then lets you recall the moment or scroll through a timeline of how you used your computer. But because Recall encountered Privacy and security issuesruined Microsoft’s entire Copilot Plus PC marketing efforts, and Microsoft was forced to postpone the recall multiple times improve its security. In fact, it has only recently emerged Appears in beta version Windows.

However, I don’t think Microsoft’s failure with Recall means the company will slow down its Windows AI efforts. Windows executive Pavan Davuluri recently told me, The future of Windows is in the cloud and artificial intelligenceso expect more of this to happen in 2025.

Next year will also be an exciting battle between x86 and Windows on Arm. AMD and Intel team up to fend off Qualcomm’s Arm-based chips, Intel faces a tumultuous period Remove its CEO,face Desktop computer chip issuesand a wave of layoffs earlier this year.

It’s hard not to think of 2025 as the year that Windows on Arm continues to encroach on the laptop space. Dell leaks suggest Qualcomm is preparing new chips for 2025, which the chipmaker has also been rolling out Cheaper Arm-based chips to lower the price of laptop computers. I expect we’ll see more of these at CES in January, as well as a range of laptops setting the stage for this year.

The Dell leak also hints at Nvidia’s plans for the next generation of GPUs, which now appear to be unveiled at CES. Leak suggests we’ll see RTX 50-series desktop GPUs and even laptop variants from OEMs It is rumored that new models are being prepared Shown at CES. Considering the situation with Windows on Arm gaming, a new generation of Nvidia’s GPUs could help bring new excitement to x86 laptops in 2025.

Nvidia may also be planning to help with the Windows on Arm effort. The chip manufacturer has Rumored for a long time It plans to launch Arm PC chips as early as 2025.

No matter what happens with laptops in 2025, one thing is for sure that there will be fierce competition between Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. This promises to be an exciting year for Windows laptops.