Qualcomm Looking to Combat Apple Silicon With New Generation of PC Chips

Qualcomm today announced plans for next-generation Arm-based System on Chips (SoC) designed to rival Apple's M-series chips in the PC space (via The Verge).

tsmc semiconductor chip inspection 678x452
At Qualcomm's 2021 investor day event, chief technology officer Dr. James Thompson announced the plans for the new generation of chips. The chips are "designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs" and are being developed by the Nuvia team. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a chip startup company founded by former Apple chip designers, for $1.4 billion earlier this year.

Qualcomm said that it will directly compete with Apple's M-series chips, including the M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max, and hopes to lead the industry for "sustained performance and battery life." Moreover, the company promised that it would be scaling up its Adreno GPUs to offer desktop-class gaming capabilities in future PCs. Qualcomm hopes to be able to send samples to clients in around nine months, ahead of the first products containing the chips launching in 2023.

Tags: Arm, Qualcomm

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red Green

The 30+ Best Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 6:46 am PST by
Black Friday is in full swing, and as always this is the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...

Top Rated Comments

BC2009 Avatar
53 months ago
So if Apple maintains the same lead on Qualcomm in with regard to PC/Mac chips that they do in the mobile arena, then they have nothing to worry about. Qualcomm chips powering Android phones are at least 2 to 3 years behind Apple in performance and Android phones only make up for it by providing obscene amounts of RAM on the high-end phones.

The advantage here for the consumer is that it will prevent Apple from resting on their laurels and holding back more powerful designs because they don't yet need them (much like Intel did with AMD years ago). You gotta have somebody at least chasing after Apple even if they are likely not going to catch them. I actually wish Apple had more competition in the tablet arena so iPad might got better faster.

The other disadvantage for PC's is that the operating system is coming from a different vendor than the SOC. When Apple needs to optimizing something, they just push it from software to hardware. For Microsoft and Qualcomm, that is going to be a negotiation with a slower turn-around time.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
torontotim Avatar
53 months ago

if only apple paid their designers better to retain them.
People working at this level rarely leave because of compensation.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zaft Avatar
53 months ago
Good luck. By 2023 apple will be far ahead.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SactoGuy18 Avatar
53 months ago
They'll never catch up to Apple. Reason: the Apple M-series SoC's a highly optimized for MacOS, something that the Qualcomm ARM-based SoC's may not be able to do unless Windows 11 on ARM is written to take full advantage of the Qualcomm ARM design.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
53 months ago
Competition is never bad.

But it takes them so long to even try to catch up Apple...
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
53 months ago
Qualcomm is late to the party.

Haha! The competition is good but Good luck!

Apple silicon chip is just way too good. Real talk!



Attachment Image
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)