You don’t know it, but your next laptop should look a lot like a smartphone. At least, from within. This October 24, the American giant Qualcomm, which designs the most powerful processors for Android smartphones, made a big announcement: a new processor, called Snapdragon An adaptation of its mobile processors that is reminiscent of Apple, whose MacBook has operated since 2020 with processors derived from those of the iPhone.
Until 2020, the majority of PCs and Macs (laptops and desktops) sold in the world were powered by an Intel chip, whose architecture (x86) dates back to… 1978. Despite the obvious improvements in Intel chips in In recent years, Apple considered that the processor running its iPhone was ultimately more relevant, especially for laptops: based on a different architecture (designed by the British ARM), the chip now enjoys comparable, or even greater, power. , by consuming less energy.
Silence and resistance
With its dragon’s mouth The objective: to recover the advantages that MacBook owners have observed: very important fluidity, a silent computer (the MacBook Air no longer needs a built-in fan to cool down) and, above all, much greater autonomy.
In its press release, Qualcomm promises a 68% reduction in power consumption, at comparable power. With adoption expected from mid-2024, this processor could help laptop makers catch up to Apple in this area.
At Apple, as in the competition, the integration of chips inspired by those in our smartphones also suggests a future in which certain models could benefit from a 5G modem. An important asset in terms of connectivity, but also in terms of cybersecurity, which could be of interest to companies. In any case, for Apple, the strategy has borne fruit, with a significant increase in its market share and sales forecasts to professionals.
But for Qualcomm the path will be more tortuous than for Apple. Unlike the latter, which has control over its processor, the design of its computers and its operating system (macOS), Qualcomm will depend on the good integration of its new chips by PC manufacturers and then on their good use. by Windows.
Two steps that could ultimately harm performance and autonomy. At the same time, the American company will soon face new competition: Nvidia, the American graphics processor and artificial intelligence giant, is also working on PC processors with ARM architecture, Reuters revealed on October 24.
Source: BFM TV
