{"id":1077306,"date":"2022-11-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1077306"},"modified":"2022-11-18T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T13:00:00","slug":"how-qualcomms-oryon-processor-could-be-the-ideal-counter-to-apples-m1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1077306","title":{"rendered":"How Qualcomm\u2019s Oryon Processor Could Be the Ideal Counter to Apple\u2019s M1\/2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2007_qualcomm_1_1\"<\/div>\n

This week was Qualcomm\u2019s annual summit in Hawaii, and for once I\u2019m not there, which is kind of a shame because it\u2019s really cold where I live right now. However, on paper, the Qualcomm Oryon processor due next year could be the perfect competitive answer to Apple\u2019s M1\/2 if Intel\u2019s coming little core\/big core effort is late to market, which seems likely given Intel is undergoing a large layoff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oryon is based on Nuvia technology that has been somewhat problematic given ARM is suing Qualcomm for using the technology in what appears to be a suicidal effort designed to cripple this potential Apple competitor. But if launched successfully as expected in 2024, this processor could be a huge game changer.\u00a0 Of course, it will run not only against the latest processors from folks like AMD and Intel but also against some of the coming RISC V parts also expected at that time. ARM\u2019s hostile actions could still cost both ARM and Qualcomm any chance of succeeding which is foolish on ARM\u2019s part given that the license Qualcomm has for ARM does appear to cover the product. There is only one thing worse than suing a large client, and that is losing when you do so. Because of Qualcomm\u2019s relatively strong position, it seems likely ARM is on the wrong side of the fence, both legally and competitively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about how this coming battle is likely to play out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Processor Wars<\/h2>\n

Currently, Apple is the ARM champion for PCs. Its M1\/2 effort has been very successful as the company moved from Intel to ARM for its latest PC processors. In general, these processors have been holding up,\u00a0 thanks mostly to Apple\u2019s tightly controlled ecosystem. For Windows-based PCs, X86 and Intel are still kings, though AMD has been beating Intel regularly of late in performance. At the high end, the two companies remain competitive against each other across both mobile and desktop designs while Intel continues to lead on overall design wins. Qualcomm\u2019s current ARM effort, while interesting, is still very small when compared to either AMD or Intel, and its biggest competitive disadvantage comes from using an architecture that lacks performance headroom to run the emulators required to run Windows or Windows apps.<\/p>\n

This last is changing as Microsoft moves to create a version of Windows and related apps that will run natively without an emulator, promising ARM performance that will be sharply improved without hurting other advantages like battery life and wireless connectivity where ARM has traditionally had an advantage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now, while Qualcomm\u2019s ARM effort lags in performance significantly, it tends to lead in battery life and connectivity, but those advantages are being addressed by future Intel designs that promise to better shift from low power to high power processing as the need requires and potentially bracket Qualcomm\u2019s more blended effort with better performance when needed and better battery life when that performance isn\u2019t needed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

AMD is largely staying on the performance vector, but the latest laptop I\u2019ve tested, the HP EliteBook 865 G9 got 21 hours battery life for video and light word processing, making me wonder how much more battery life I\u2019d need (this laptop has a 16-inch screen, as well, so it was hardly a stripped-down unit).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In short, as the challenger, Qualcomm will have to execute sharply with Oryon or there is an increasing chance that by the time it\u2019s released, the already entrenched competing parts will be good enough to hold it off. This is one of the problems when trying to penetrate an already defined market with a new technology: You have to be substantially better than the part you are trying to displace to get movement because buyers don\u2019t like taking chances on new technology unless there is a substantial benefit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, the ill-timed and ill-considered ARM litigation<\/a> could be enough of a drag on this effort to remove its ability to arrive timely and before Intel renders the effort redundant. Fortunately, Microsoft is on Qualcomm\u2019s side and has the ability to be a kingmaker given Microsoft makes the operating system for these PCs. But Microsoft isn\u2019t stupid. I\u2019ll bet this ARM\/Qualcomm litigation has it thinking about hedging its bets because that\u2019s what I\u2019d be doing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Qualcomm Oryon<\/h2>\n

Qualcomm Oryon<\/a> won\u2019t just be for PCs. lt cuts across all of Qualcomm\u2019s platforms that require higher performance: smartphones, cars, mixed reality glasses, and networking solutions. Promising a superior blend of performance and energy conservation, Qualcomm could be, on paper, the perfect choice for an increasing number of applications that don\u2019t want to trade off conservation against performance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it can arrive with Microsoft\u2019s strengthened ARM support for Windows, it has the potential to flip itself from an also-ran in the PC space into a real contender. This will require a much higher level of execution from Qualcomm that will be hindered by the ARM litigation. So, the success of this effort is anything but certain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wrapping Up:\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Oryon is a crucial play for both Qualcomm and ARM. If successful, it could provide a strong foundation for Qualcomm and ARM to move outside of Apple definitively in the PC space and become a true force in the market. But the foolish and seemingly punitive litigation from ARM will significantly hinder this effort which is by no means a sure thing even with ARM\u2019s support. It also slows execution during a time when Intel is suffering through a layoff and would be less able to respond to this threat.\u00a0 In short, the litigation is a gift to both Apple and Intel because it buys them time to come up with better competitive alternatives. If they do, Oryon\u2019s success will be substantially reduced.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I expect this ARM vs. Qualcomm litigation will go down in history as one of the most foolish things ever done and, should ARM fail against a surging RISC V or X86 counter effort, this litigation will likely lead to the list of causes for that failure. Given Apple is taking a hard look at RISC V<\/a>, ARM\u2019s window to stop this silliness is shrinking rapidly. In the end, if Qualcomm can get around ARM, it has a shot at the title. However, getting around a partner making bad choices is neither easy nor assured, so we\u2019ll have to wait at least another year to see if Oryon can rise to its market disruption potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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\nSource: TG Daily – How Qualcomm\u2019s Oryon Processor Could Be the Ideal Counter to Apple\u2019s M1\/2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week was Qualcomm\u2019s annual summit in Hawaii, and for once I\u2019m not there, which is kind of a shame because it\u2019s really cold where I live right now. However, on paper, the Qualcomm Oryon processor due next year could … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1077307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,110],"tags":[109],"class_list":["post-1077306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tg-daily","category-unfiltered-rss","tag-tg-daily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1077306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1077307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1077306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1077306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1077306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}