Apple M1 Macs are ushering in a new era of Arm-based PCs. Arm’s CEO is optimistic

This story is part of CES, where our editors will present the latest news and the hottest gadgets from CES 2021 entirely virtual.

For years, computer manufacturers have tried to sell PCs built with Arm processors, a low-power family that powers smartphones. In comparison to models running on x86 chips from Intel and AMD, however, Arm-based PCs suffered from performance and software compatibility failures.

Now Apple’s M1 processors, the Apple-designed member of the Arm family that powers the new MacBooks, are changing the view of Arm PCs. M1 chips offer not only good battery life, like Qualcomm’s Arm chips in some Windows laptops, but also good performance. At the same time, x86 PCs have been enhanced only gradually.

It is therefore no surprise to hear new optimism from Arm CEO Simon Segars.

“What we’re starting to see now is real innovation happening in a market where there hasn’t been a lot of innovation,” said Segars in an interview during the CES 2021 technology conference. “Whenever there is a discontinuity that makes people question how we are doing this, it injects energy into innovation. “

Part of that innovation comes from Arm itself, which is injecting new engineering resources into PC chip designs, he said. Another part may come from Nvidia, the leading graphics chip maker that is trying to acquire Arm for $ 40 billion.

Arm does have a better chance thanks to Apple, said Endpoint Technologies analyst Roger Kay. “Arm always talks about entering this market. I think they are about to really make it. Apple is the right way,” he said. Arm’s success would mean PCs powerful enough for conventional buyers, but efficient enough that you could leave your charger in a drawer for a day or two without worry.

Although Arm is not a household name, the technology from the Cambridge, England-based company commands a large part of the computing market. Most notably, Arm chips power almost all smartphones. They are also used in network equipment, IoT devices, Raspberry Pi computers for hardware hackers and the world’s fastest supercomputer. About 20 billion Arm chips are shipped each year.

Intel, AMD and Apple’s ‘beast’ M1

To be successful, Arm fans will have to rely on new chips coming from Intel and AMD that emerged at CES. The Ryzen 5000 series of laptop chips from AMD will offer up to 17.5 hours of general use on battery power, said CEO Lis Su on Tuesday. Intel demonstrated its next-generation Alder Lake processor later this year. It takes an approach that has long been used in Arm chips, a combination of fast-processing cores and slower, lower-power cores.

It has been difficult to break into the PC ecosystem of component makers, software makers and PC makers, acknowledged Segars. He believes that Arm’s combination of performance and energy efficiency will ultimately allow it to gain significant market share.

Apple proved it is possible. “The M1 is a beast with a more aggressive core design,” said Tirias Research analyst Kevin Krewell. “Apple’s M1 has validated that the Arm architecture can perform high and go hand-in-hand with the x86.”

Apple has an ecosystem advantage that other Arm PC makers lack: control over the MacOS operating system, including the ability to optimize performance and make sure everything works. For Windows PC software, support for Arm chips is usually a second priority, even with Microsoft’s enthusiasm. Software manufacturers can treat Arm-Windows versions of their products as optional, but in about two years, all Macs will be based on Arm.

Arm invests in new chip designs

Under his current ownership of investment firm Softbank, Arm invested heavily in new engineering. Chip makers can license full Arm chip designs or just the set of instructions the software uses to communicate with Arm chips, an approach that allows chip manufacturers to design their own processors the way they want.

Arm’s design skills mean there is less incentive for chip makers to create their own designs. “There are more people licensing our CPU implementation technology than there were a few years ago,” said Segars. “You have to spend a huge amount of money to do better than Arm.”

In fact, Samsung switched to Arm’s Cortex-X1 design for its new eight-core Exynos 2100 mobile processor announced at CES Tuesday. Not everyone is going in that direction, however. Fujitsu designed its own supercomputing chips, and on Wednesday, Qualcomm announced that it acquired startup Nuvia to breathe new life into the designs of its Arm chips. If Nuvia technology delivers on its promise, it could also significantly boost the Arm PC market, as Qualcomm is the leading chip maker behind Windows Arm laptops.

What is not clear is how big the problem will be in Nvidia’s attempt to acquire Arm for chip licensees, which also include companies like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Huawei, Marvell and Amazon. Nvidia and Arm argue that their chip technology is complementary and suitable for next generation computing demands. Arm has tried to assure chip licensees that they will be able to license Arm products as usual, but the reality is that Arm will also become part of a major competitor.

“It is a cross acquisition. The industry is very averse to that,” said Kay. It is likely to attract more interest in alternatives like RISC-V, a new chip instruction set that is available without Arm’s licensing hurdles, he predicted.

Nvidia and Arm have given themselves 18 months to persuade regulators that the acquisition is a good idea, meaning it could close in early 2022. Companies are making “great progress” by convincing regulators, said Segars, but he added: “The whole regulatory analysis is not fast.”

Update, 09:13 PT: Clarifies that Segars was commenting on the general outlook for Arm PCs.