Microsoft would test a new Surface PC with an Arm chip

Arm chips and the Windows operating system have so far not gone well together. Optimization problems, performance at half mast, the Surface Pro X and their SQ1 then SQ2 processors (Snapdragon 8cx Gen 1 and 2 from Qualcomm renamed by Microsoft) have indeed not been able to convince so far. However, the use of Arm chips could have brought some interesting elements. We think in particular of a very low energy consumption and an excellent autonomy. The sensational arrival of Apple’s M1 chips, also based on the Arm architecture, has moreover proven that it is possible to combine performance, low consumption, autonomy and silent operation for the Macs equipped with them.

As a reminder, with its Snapdragon 8cx, Qualcomm relied above all on energy efficiency, but the manufacturer now clearly wants to improve the performance of its chips. For this, it intends to offer with the 8cx Gen 3 a new design in 5 nm, with a doubling of the high-performance cores of the chip – which would bring the total to eight – always accompanied by four low-power cores.

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 surfaces

It is precisely this Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 which was discovered in a benchmark on the Geekbench 5 software, embedded in a computer named OEMVL OEMVL. This type of code name has already been used by Microsoft on its Surface Pro, Surface Laptop or Surface Book PCs and it is reasonable to think that it is a computer from the range that has just been tested. The Surface Pro X being the only model that embeds Arm processors, it is therefore expected that it will be renewed this year.

The scores are in any case much better than on the Surface Pro X equipped with 8cx Gen 2 which are displayed around 800 in single-core and 3250 in multi-core. A commendable performance gain, which could allow this 8cx Gen 3 to compete with 11th generation Intel processors such as the Core i5-1135G7 or even Core i7-1165G7 on certain PCs, or Ryzen 5 5500U from AMD. Be careful though, Geekbench is optimized for Arm, which is not yet the case for all Windows applications and in practice, the 8cx Gen 3 could be below a Core i5. A very advanced use with photo or video processing software would in any case not be possible, but office automation would be quite comfortable with this level of performance.

The competition will be fierce

Qualcomm may, however, come up against some rigorous criticism. The scores are far from those obtained by Apple’s M1 chips or 12th generation Intel processors, and the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is therefore already lagging behind. If this new Surface doesn’t hit the market until the fall, as rumors suggest, the gap will be even wider with M2 chips no doubt already announced by then, AMD Ryzen 6000 processors widely deployed and 13th generation Intel on the way.

The Snapdragons could possibly do well if the energy efficiency is excellent and the autonomy of the PCs greatly improved, but here again, the M1s have already taken a long lead. Optimization will also be a key element to watch, but it will be necessary to wait several months before being able to test and compare all this, if Microsoft does indeed unveil this Surface Pro X, which has nothing official for the moment.