'MediaTek is working on Arm chips for Windows laptops'

MediaTek may be working on Arm chips for use in Windows laptops. Three insiders reported this to the Reuters news agency. These chips should be released at the end of next year, after Microsoft's exclusivity deal with Qualcomm comes to an end.

MediaTek's Arm processor should be based on the off-the-shelf designs that Arm offers, writes Reuters on Tuesday. It is not yet clear which designs exactly this concerns. However, according to Reuters, the chip is aimed at Microsoft's efforts to better optimize its Windows operating system for the Arm architecture. The tech giant wants to compete with Apple, which switched to Arm in 2020 with its Mac devices.

Reuters could not confirm whether MediaTek's chips will be covered by Microsoft's new Copilot+ PC program. Microsoft recently introduced Copilot+. That program includes laptops with an npu that offer at least 40Tops for AI calculations. This gives them access to certain new AI functions in Windows. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X processors, which are also based on Arm, are used in the first Copilot+ laptops.

Reuters reports that the first MediaTek processor for Windows devices will be released “in late 2025.” By then, the exclusivity deal between Microsoft and Qualcomm should have expired. The two companies signed a deal in 2016, which makes Qualcomm the only chip maker allowed to design Arm CPUs for Windows. That agreement runs until 2024, Reuters writes.

MediaTek will probably not be the only company to come up with Arm chips for Windows. Reuters reported last year that AMD and Nvidia are also working on Arm processors for PCs. Those CPUs should also come onto the market sometime next year. MediaTek's upcoming chip is separate from its collaboration with Nvidia on automotive chips, sources told Reuters.