Microsoft inaugurates the era of Windows on ARM: ‘Copilot+ PC’ with Snapdragon and Prism emulator for x86

Today, Microsoft has effectively kicked off the new era of Windows on ARM platformpresenting the characteristics of the new “Copilot+ PC“, i.e. portable devices focused on the use of Copilot’s artificial intelligence and based on chips Snapdragonas well as a emulator for x86 apps called Prism.

Everything therefore seems ready for the beginning of a new era for Windows, particularly launched on these new types of portable PCs characterized by a clear change in architecture, in a sort of direct attack on MacBooks and Apple’s M-series processors.

Notably, Microsoft has presented further 20 laptop models based on Snapdragon X series, in particular Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon

Snapdragon

Snapdragon

Both also contain the “Hexagon” NPU capable of delivering 45 TOPS (Tera Operations per Second) of AI-specific performance.

AI first

Microsoft also plans to integrate further 40 AI models within Windows on ARM, capable of supporting users and developers on different levels: around 10 of these are language models, which will run in the background at the same time, enabling constant integration of AI into the use of apps and other PC features.

To maintain a certain compatibility with other computers, Copilot+ PCs will also be able to count on Prism: it is an emulator that allows you to use apps developed for the classic x86 architecture, in a similar way to what Rosetta 2 does on Apple devices.

This is a feature on which Microsoft has worked particularly hard, to allow for as painless a transition as possible towards the new architecture without drastically cutting ties with the past.

According to Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi, Copilot+ PCs should guarantee 50% more continuous performance than MacBook Airs equipped with the M3 processor, as well as demonstrating a clear reduction in consumption. In short, it would be a clear recovery of Windows on the Apple environment, which in recent years had proven to be decidedly ahead of the competition in the ARM field.

At this point we are waiting to see the performance of these devices in standard situations, while we wonder if this intense study on the ARM architecture could also have positive repercussions on the development of consoles, considering that rumors had already emerged in the past about the possible Xbox architecture change towards this type of chip.