Qualcomm’s processors for PCs, tablets and smartphones – previously called Snapdragon – are expected to compete with Apple’s systems-on-chip (SoCs) from 2023, including the M series. The latter is unrivaled in the ARM world so far.
The first notebooks using Qualcomm processors with self-designed ARM cores are due to appear next year. Qualcomm took over the start-up Nuvia at the beginning of 2021 for its development, which brought with it a well-known team of engineers. Many of the team members have previously worked for AMD, ARM, Apple, Broadcom, Google and Intel, often in high-level technical roles. Founder and CEO Gerard Williams III was with Apple for almost ten years until the beginning of 2020, most recently as chief CPU architect, before that with ARM for twelve years.
In an interview with anandtech chatted Alex Katouzian, who is responsible for the Mobile, Compute and Infrastructure (MCI) division at Qualcomm, which also takes care of the development of mobile processors. “The devices we launch based on the new CPU design and architecture will compete directly with Apple.”
First notebooks, then smartphones
Notebook processors, which at least have to compete with the M1, M1 Pro and M1 – in 2023 then possibly even with their successors, make the start. Qualcomm wants to combine the new (Nuvia) CPU cores with a clearly upscaled graphics unit. “We will definitely have much more powerful GPU and CPU cores,” says Katouzian. Qualcomm’s previous notebook CPUs with standard ARM cores were far too slow for everyday use.
After notebook processors, Qualcomm wants to bring self-designed CPU cores to other device classes: smartphones, cars and infrastructure products. The company also wants to open up ARM servers in the future – that was Nuvia’s original plan. If the market allows it, Qualcomm will not rule out standalone graphics cards.
(mma)