Who needs fast performance when you have freedom of choice? Let your Mac-owning friends boast about the blinding speeds of Apple's new M-series chips, because who needs fast performance when you have freedom of choice? It is one of the benefits of buying a PC.
Microsoft may have been limiting the hardware on certain Windows 11 laptops. According to the developers, Windows devices powered by the same brand of processor have been exclusive to Microsoft.
Want a laptop with Windows on it? It doesn't exist. At least not yet. The agreement between these tech giants is set to expire soon, but a specific time frame was not given by multiple people familiar with the deal.
This news will be seen as a halfhearted shrug by most people, since it doesn't seem like Windows on ARM laptops are flying off shelves or getting recommended by anyone who has used them.
That could change. The gates will open for other chip makers to try their hand at a viable ARM PC chip once the exclusive period is over, and that should be exciting for those who know the benefits of the architecture. The new MacBook Pro models with their fast M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs demonstrate the potential of ARM to deliver record-setting performance and endurance. For as long as Windows has been around, it lags far behind.
That is not due to a lack of trying. Windows on ARM was announced by Microsoft in 2016 with the ability to run x86 apps. The company launched the Surface Pro X, a custom version of its Surface Pro tablets, a few years later. It was panned for being overpriced and underpowered. Microsoft brought x84 emulation to Windows 11 but abandoned plans to do so for Windows 10.
Perhaps another company can be more successful, since it hasn't done enough to shift Windows away from aging x86 processors. Rick Tsai, the CEO of the company, said in an earnings call last month that he wants the company's processors under the hood of future Windows 11 PCs. The laptop is rumored to be powered by the Exynos processor.
Mac owners should be excited about the possibility of a race. The handshake between Microsoft and Qualcomm may have something to do with why you can't use Windows 11 on new Macs. We wouldn't get our hopes up too high, but the expiring deal could remove one roadblock from getting the latest Windows onto the latest Mac.
We reached out to Microsoft to confirm the details of the report and will update this article if we hear back.
