Microsoft making its own Arm-based chips to take on Apple

3 years ago 3

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Microsoft is developing its own Arm-based chips for Windows PCs to rival the Apple M-series on MacBook computers, Windows Latest reports.

The publication spotted several Microsoft job listings that advertised positions working on custom silicon accelerators, System-on-Chips (SoCs), and high-performance, high-bandwidth designs.

One of the listings sought a Principal SoC Silicon Architect who must have experience in high-performance SoC architecture, as well as in CPU and GPU architecture and design.

“The candidate will be responsible for building complex, state-of-the-art SOCs using leading silicon technology nodes and will collaborate closely with internal customers and partners,” the job listing stated.

A second job listing revealed that those working on Microsoft’s in-house Arm chips formed part of the “Microsoft Silicon Team”.

Other jobs available in this division included Senior Physical Design Verification Engineer, Principal Design Engineer, and Senior Silicon Power Integrity CAD Manager.

Windows Latest pointed out that the advertising of these positions comes in the lead-up to Microsoft’s release of Windows 12, which will reportedly have a version specifically optimised for Arm chips and AI.

Windows 12 is reportedly slated for launch in 2024.

The publication expects that combining an in-house Arm chip with the new operating system could significantly enhance the performance and efficiency of Microsoft’s devices, like the Surface laptop line-up.

Apple’s Arm-based M1 and M2 chips have been praised for their impressive performance and efficiency, particularly on MacBook laptops.

To date, Arm-based chips for Windows have only come from Qualcomm. These have often been criticised for mediocre performance and poor compatibility with older Windows apps.

While it typically only licences its Reduced Instruction Set Computer architecture and processor designs to third parties, Financial Times recently reported that Arm itself was working on its own advanced chip to showcase the capabilities of its technologies.

Compared to Intel’s x86 architecture, the dominant architecture on most computers, Arm designs tend to be more power-efficient, reducing cooling requirements and supporting greater battery life.

That makes them particularly beneficial in compact devices like thin-and-light laptops and smartphones.