Microsoft is convinced that the Arm version of Windows PCs will eventually beat Apple

Microsoft is gearing up to fully showcase its vision of an "AI PC" at an event in Seattle next month. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed: Microsoft is confident that a new round of Windows laptops with Arm processors will beat Apple's M3-based MacBook Air in terms of CPU performance and AI-accelerated tasks.

After years of Qualcomm promises falling apart, Microsoft believes that the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processor will finally deliver the level of performance it has been hoping to achieve, giving a stronger push to Windows on Arm. Microsoft is now betting big on Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processor, which will be powered by a variety of Windows laptops and Microsoft's latest consumer-facing Surface hardware this year.

Microsoft is so confident in these new Qualcomm chips that it is planning a series of demonstrations to show how these processors are faster than the M3 MacBook Air in terms of CPU tasks, AI acceleration, and even application emulation. Microsoft claims in internal documents that these new Windows AI PCs will have "faster application emulation capabilities than Rosetta 2" – the application compatibility layer that Apple uses on its Apple Silicon Macs to convert applications compiled for 64-bit Intel processors to Apple's own processors.

Application emulation has been a big problem for Windows on Arm for the past decade, but more than two years ago, Microsoft already offered x64 application emulation for Windows 11. This helps ensure that applications run on Windows on Arm devices without the native ARM64 version. Native ARM apps are key to improving the performance of upcoming Windows on Arm laptops, and Google has just recently released its own ARM64 version of Chrome browser to prepare for these upcoming devices.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors instead of Intel's Core Ultra chips on the upcoming consumer models of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6. Microsoft has already released the Surface Pro 10 for Business and Surface Laptop 6 with Intel Core Ultra processors, but the Arm models will be available for sale to consumers.

Internally, Microsoft refers to devices running Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors as "next-generation AI Copilot PCs" in an attempt to distinguish them from existing PCs running AMD's latest chips and even Intel Core Ultra processors. This new class of PCs will be the first to get new AI-powered Windows features, including an AI Explorer app that lets you "retrieve anything you've seen or done on your device."

Windows Central first reported details of AI Explorer last month, and it sounds a lot like the Timeline feature in Windows 10, but Microsoft eventually removed the feature. Timeline relies on application developers to work, and this time, AI Explorer leverages the neural processing unit chip on the device to scan the timeline of events. It will work with any Windows application, allowing the user to recall what they were working on before.

It is also reported that Microsoft wants to improve video streaming on Windows devices with Arm processors by carrying a new AI feature on these "next-generation" AI PCs. These PCs will also include access to Windows Studio effects, for background blurs, and more, as well as the ability to create images using AI models for free, as well as the option to allow Copilot to access PC context to improve prompts and answers.

Qualcomm is also confident in its new processor and recently offered the media a test opportunity for the Snapdragon X Elite chip. The benchmark results presented by Qualcomm show that it beats Apple's M2 processor and Intel's latest Core Ultra 7 chip in many ways. Qualcomm also claims that most Windows games will "just work" on its upcoming Arm laptops, so we may end up seeing some gaming laptops with Arm processors.

Microsoft will hold a big AI PC launch event on May 20, the day before the company's annual Build developer conference. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will talk about the company's "vision for AI across hardware and software," which will lay the groundwork for its latest Windows on Arm initiative and investment in AI capabilities in Windows 11.

Microsoft's vision includes the slogan "Copilot for every person," which is meant to revisit Microsoft's vision of "PC in every home" for Windows decades ago. It's a big push for AI in Windows within Microsoft, and I've heard that the company expects that by the end of 2026, 50% of new Windows devices will be running AI-enabled chips. Just a month after Microsoft detailed its plans for AI PCs, expect to see a new round of Windows on Arm devices in June.