If You’re Tired of MacBooks Winning…
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses the Windows laptop market's efforts to match Apple's M1 laptops in energy efficiency. It highlights the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips, which promise to improve performance and efficiency, potentially rivaling Apple's MacBooks. The discussion also covers the challenges of software support for ARM-based Windows laptops, the progress in emulation, and the importance of pricing and configuration for market success.
Takeaways
- 🚀 Apple's M1 laptop sparked a race for energy efficiency in the Windows laptop market.
- 🌟 Windows devices have since improved in various aspects such as screens, performance, pricing, gaming capabilities, and upgradability.
- 🔋 Apple maintains a clear lead in energy efficiency, a metric crucial for form factor, battery life, heat output, and fan noise.
- 💻 The use of ARM architecture in Apple's chips, as opposed to the x86 architecture in most Windows laptops, is a key factor in MacBook's energy efficiency.
- 📱 Upcoming ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite laptops from Qualcomm are expected to compete well with Apple's MacBooks.
- 📈 The new Snapdragon Elite chip has impressive benchmark scores, attracting interest from major laptop manufacturers.
- 🔧 Software support for ARM-based Windows laptops has been a challenge, with limited native ARM apps and reliance on emulation for x86 apps.
- 🎮 Gaming performance on these new chips is uncertain, with potential issues arising from emulated games across architectures.
- 💰 Pricing will be critical for the success of these ARM-based Windows laptops, as they need to offer value to compete in a crowded market.
- 🛠 Configuration options may be limited, with RAM and storage likely being fixed, similar to how MacBooks are designed.
Q & A
What has been the impact of Apple's M1 laptop on the Windows laptop space?
-The introduction of Apple's M1 laptop has led to the Windows laptop space striving to catch up in terms of energy efficiency. Windows devices have since improved in areas such as screen quality, performance, pricing, gaming capabilities, and upgradability. However, Apple maintains a clear lead in energy efficiency, a metric that is crucial for laptops in terms of form factor, battery life, heat output, and fan noise levels.
Why is energy efficiency an important metric for laptops?
-Energy efficiency is important for laptops because it directly affects the device's form factor, battery life, heat output, and noise levels. Energy-efficient laptops can potentially be thinner, have longer battery life, generate less heat, and operate with quieter fans or even be fanless.
What architecture does Apple use in its chips that contributes to their good energy efficiency?
-Apple uses the ARM architecture in their chips, which is different from the x86 architecture that most Windows laptops use. This ARM architecture is a key factor in the high energy efficiency of MacBooks.
What is the significance of the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips in the Windows laptop market?
-The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips are significant because they are ARM-based, like Apple's chips, and are expected to allow Windows laptops to compete with MacBooks in terms of energy efficiency. Major laptop manufacturers are supporting this new chip, which has shown impressive performance in benchmarks.
What were the issues with the Surface Pro X, an ARM-based Windows laptop reviewed in 2019?
-The Surface Pro X had issues with software support and performance. Apps that did run on it didn't perform well, and the chip wasn't powerful enough to attract buyers. This led to a lack of interest from manufacturers in follow-up devices.
How has the performance of ARM-based chips evolved since the Surface Pro X review in 2019?
-The performance of ARM-based chips has significantly improved since 2019. The new Snapdragon Elite chip has caught the attention of major laptop manufacturers with its impressive performance in benchmarks like Geekbench and Cinebench.
What is the current state of software support for ARM-based Windows laptops?
-While there are a decent number of first-party Microsoft apps that run natively on ARM chips, the majority of third-party apps still do not have native ARM versions. This has been a limiting factor for the widespread adoption of ARM-based Windows laptops.
How does Apple's emulation strategy, Rosetta 2, differ from Windows' emulation?
-Apple's Rosetta 2 uses a translation layer that creates unoptimized but native ARM code the first time an app is launched, which results in a smaller performance hit compared to Windows' emulation, which tends to be less efficient when running x86 apps on ARM chips.
What are the concerns regarding gaming performance on ARM-based Windows laptops with Snapdragon Elite chips?
-There are concerns about the smoothness of emulated games on these systems, as past experiences with emulated games across architectures have been problematic. While Qualcomm suggests that existing games should work, the actual performance and compatibility remain to be seen.
What are the implications of ARM chips on RAM and storage configurations in Windows laptops?
-ARM chips in Windows laptops likely mean that RAM and storage drives will be non-removable, as is the case with MacBooks. Users will need to choose their RAM and storage configurations at the time of purchase, as these will be fixed for the life of the product.
What is the critical factor for the success of ARM-based Windows laptops with Snapdragon Elite chips?
-Pricing is a critical factor for the success of these laptops. Despite the potential for excellent battery life and performance, if the pricing is not competitive, consumers may opt for other options, as the market is already filled with many good alternatives.
Outlines
🚀 Windows Laptops Catching Up in Energy Efficiency
This paragraph discusses the efforts of the Windows laptop industry to improve energy efficiency following the release of Apple's M1 laptop. It highlights the advancements in screen quality, performance, pricing, gaming capabilities, and upgradable components of Windows devices. Despite these improvements, Apple maintains a clear lead in energy efficiency, which is crucial for laptops as it affects form factor, battery life, heat output, and fan noise. The paragraph also notes the upcoming release of laptops with Qualcomm's new ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chip, which aims to compete with Apple's MacBooks. It reflects on the past experiences with ARM-based Windows laptops, such as the Surface Pro X, and the challenges faced in terms of software support and performance. The discussion emphasizes the importance of the new Snapdragon Elite chip, which has garnered interest from major laptop companies due to its impressive benchmark scores, although there are concerns about its high TDP and the potential for fanless designs.
💻 Software and Gaming Considerations for ARM-Based Windows Laptops
The second paragraph delves into the software aspect of ARM-based Windows laptops, noting the progress made since the release of the original Surface Pro X. It points out that while first-party Microsoft apps run natively on ARM chips, many third-party apps still lack native ARM versions, relying instead on emulation. The paragraph acknowledges the improvements in emulation technology, now supporting 64-bit apps and offering performance close to native execution, albeit with a reduction in energy efficiency. The discussion also touches on Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer, which offers better performance than Windows emulation. Gaming performance on these new chips is approached with caution, as the paragraph expresses reservations about the smooth emulation of games across architectures. Finally, the paragraph addresses the importance of pricing and configuration for the success of these laptops, emphasizing the need for competitive pricing to ensure market viability and consumer interest.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Energy Efficiency
💡ARM Architecture
💡x86 Architecture
💡Performance per Watt
💡Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
💡Emulation
💡Software Support
💡Gaming Performance
💡Pricing and Configuration
💡Market Space
💡Fanless System
Highlights
Apple's M1 laptop has spurred the Windows laptop space to improve energy efficiency.
Windows devices have made advancements in screen quality, performance, pricing, gaming capabilities, and upgradable components.
Apple maintains a clear lead in energy efficiency, a metric they emphasize in their marketing.
Energy efficiency in laptops impacts form factor, battery life, heat output, fan noise, and the possibility of fanless systems.
MacBooks' good energy efficiency is attributed to the use of ARM architecture over the more common x86 architecture in Windows laptops.
Upcoming laptops with Qualcomm's ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chips are expected to compete well against MacBooks.
Previous ARM-based Windows laptops, like the Surface Pro X, had limited software support and performance issues.
The new Snapdragon Elite chip has garnered interest from major laptop companies due to its impressive performance in benchmarks.
The Snapdragon Elite chip's performance in GPU benchmarks is noteworthy, though two variants with different power consumption levels were shown.
There is a demand for fanless, quiet devices with good performance, which the new ARM-based Windows laptops aim to provide.
Software support for ARM chips has been limited, with many third-party apps not having native ARM versions.
Windows' emulation layer for non-ARM apps has improved, now supporting 64-bit apps and offering performance close to native.
Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer offers better performance than Windows' emulation, creating native ARM code for x86 apps.
Gaming performance on the new ARM-based chips is uncertain, with potential issues arising from emulating games across architectures.
Pricing and configuration will be critical for the success of ARM-based Windows laptops, with the expectation of higher minimum specs.
ARM chips in Windows laptops typically do not support removable RAM or drives, meaning users must choose their configurations upfront.
For the ARM-based Windows laptops to succeed, they must be competitively priced against other options in the market.
The speaker expresses renewed interest in ARM-based Windows laptops due to the promising performance of the Snapdragon Elite chips.
Transcripts
ever since Apple came out with that
first M1 laptop the entire Windows
laptop space has been trying to play
catchup on Energy Efficiency like at
this point Windows devices have better
screens they have better performance
they have better pricing they have
better gaming capabilities they have
upgradable components there's so much
stuff that's better when it comes to
Windows devices but when it comes to
Energy Efficiency Apple has the very
clear lead and this is the metric that
Apple leans in on right even when they
first launched the chip that was their
whole thing performance per watt year on
year it's like the thing that they lean
on for their marketing material because
it's really good now the reason why it's
so important is because Energy
Efficiency defines so much stuff when it
comes to a laptop it defines like the
form factor your battery life your heat
output your how loud your fans are maybe
you can even have a fanless system if
it's energy efficient enough and one of
the main reasons why MacBooks have such
good Energy Efficiency is because they
use the arm architecture in their chips
instead of the x86 architecture that the
vast majority of Windows laptops use now
very soon like in a matter of weeks we
are going to be seeing a whole slew of
laptops that contain a new chip from
Qualcomm the arm-based Snapdragon X
Elite and these laptops are supposed to
be able to properly compete against
Apple's MacBooks across the board now
you might be thinking Dave arm-based
Windows laptops aren't anything new how
do we know that this one won't suck like
all the other ones of the past I
wondered the same thing so uh in 2019 I
did my first review of a arm-based
Windows laptop the Surface Pro X and my
review of that device was it was
lukewarm at best you know what I can't
even call lukewarm I said that thing
sucked because they just had bad
software support and even for apps that
did run on it it just didn't have great
performance the chip wasn't special
enough for people to be for people to
buy it and because people weren't
purchasing this thing I don't even think
manufacturers were that interested in
doing follow-ups of that device but this
time it's really different because if
you look at this new chip the Snapdragon
Elite chip almost every major laptop
company is going to be on board for this
launch because the performance of this
chip has caught their eye it seems to be
really good in geekbench and cin bench
now granted these are synthetic
benchmarks running native versions of
those benchmarks so it's like best case
scenario but very impressive numbers
Apple does have their M3 Max but that's
just a completely different class of
Chip and also if you look at some of the
GPU benchmarks it's quite impressive
there is one thing to note here if you
look at those benchmarks there's two
variants that they showed a 23 watt
version and then an 80 watt version an
80 watt TDP is fairly high for a laptop
23 to 30 is probably kind of like your
average thin and light 14inch device I
am a little bit disappointed that they
didn't showcase some kind of like 10 to
15 watt performance metric because if
they had shown that that to me would
have been like there's going to be a
fanless version right CU I think on a
fanless device you kind of need to keep
it below 15 watts TDP I think in general
we're going to be seeing devices that
are much quieter compared to an Intel or
an AMD system right now but still having
awesome performance now the second thing
I want to talk about is software so all
the benchmarks that you saw right there
were done on apps that were built
specifically for arm chips now right now
in 2024 there's a decent amount of like
first-party Microsoft apps that run
natively on arm chips but the vast
majority of thirdparty apps still do not
have versions that are natively compiled
for arm chips it's been like 4 years
since I did my review on the original
Surface Pro X and since that time I
would have imagined there'd be way more
developers that have gone on board with
this whole native arm stuff it's still
fairly limited now it does make sense
like from the perspective of developers
unless there's an actual demand for this
kind of stuff you're not going to put
the resources in time that's required to
maintain another version of your app but
I do think that with this new hardware
Snapdragon Elite it pushes customers
towards it because it's attractive and
consequently developers come with but
for the apps that are still
x86 you still need to run emulation to
be able to run it on these arm chips now
back in 2019
because those chips weren't super
powerful emulation was bad also the
emulator only supported 32-bit apps at
launch so that was also awful but now
it's actually pretty decent it supports
64-bit apps and emulated performance is
pretty close to Native but there is a
noticeable reduction in Energy
Efficiency when you run emulated apps
and that's just the nature of real-time
emulation Apple does handle their
emulation differently like technically
it's not even emulation it's a
translation layer so it actually creates
this unoptimized but native arm code the
first time we launch it so it's not as
big of a performance hit the point I'm
trying to make though is that Apple's
Rosetta 2 is like it's going to be
better than what Windows has in terms of
the emulation SL transation however
because of these chips being as powerful
as they are I think they can just brute
force it I think that you throw in an
x86 app on these new Snapdragon chips I
think it just has the power to just push
it out and be like it just works not as
energy efficient but it'll work now
qualcomm's also talked about gaming
performance on these new Chips I have my
reservations like the idea of emulated
games on these systems the chip is good
it's similar to like an RTX 3050 let's
say in terms of just raw performance
capabilities now qualcomm's telling
developers that existing Games should
just work but there's so much stuff that
goes wrong when you emulate games on
across architectures like I I can't
imagine it coming out smoothly at least
that's what it's been like in the past
so if there's any difference this time
I'd be pleasantly surprised um okay last
thing I want to talk about pricing and
configuration so uh we've seen well
these are these are arm chips and when
it comes to arm chips you don't tend to
not have removable Ram it's not like you
just like swap out Ram modules kind of
like MacBooks but also I think that
there won't be removable drives like I
think that the drives will be baked onto
these systems the same way that MacBooks
are so you're going to be stuck with
deciding and choosing your RAM
configuration and storage configuration
for the life of the product now because
this is Windows I really don't think
they're going to have like 8 gigabyte
RAM options and 256 storage options like
that to me I don't think Windows would
allow that I really don't so I think
they'll be like 16 and 512 at a minimum
but it's all baked on now the other
thing is pricing in order for this
product to matter I really think pricing
is like absolutely critical because if
everything lines up if they do have an
awesome chip with awesome battery life
with great emulation support like if
it's super expensive
none of this video matters this entire
product is dead to me if the pricing is
horrible because it's so competitive at
this point yes nothing can match the
power efficiency of apple and yes these
devices are theoretically the ones to be
able to do it but if the pricing sucks
there's just a million other really good
options that people are going to pick
instead of a super expensive arm-based
Windows laptop I just hope that Qualcomm
recognizes kind of the scenario they
have at hand here it's awesome
opportunity to make some real Headway in
like Market space and just awareness of
this type of product but please don't be
super expensive that would suck um okay
there you have it I really think these
Windows laptops will be I think they'll
be cool I think they'll be the first
time I've been interested in a Windows
like an arm-based Windows laptop in four
years it's been a
while
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