What you need to know
- Qualcomm's Nuvia-based ARM processors will not be available in devices until late 2023.
- It was known that the chips would ship at some point in 2023, but Qualcomm's president recently confirmed the late 2023 timeframe in an earnings call.
- Qualcomm denied that the planned late-2023 release of the chips represented a delay.
Nuvia is noteworthy because the company was founded by the same people that built Apple's A-series chips. That processor lineup eventually evolved into the M-series CPUs that are in the latest iPads, MacBooks, and Macs. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia for $1.4 billion in order to advance its ARM-based CPU efforts.
Processors designed by the Nuvia team will ship to OEMs and partners in the second half of 2022, but they won't make their way to purchasable devices until late 2023. That gap gives manufacturers a chance to refine designs and ensure that the new chips work with other hardware.
Until the Nuvia processors roll out, ARM PC enthusiasts will have to purchase devices with Snapdragon CPUs, such as the 8CX Gen 3. It's important to note that Nuvia chips won't entirely replace designs from Arm Ltd. like the 8CX Gen 3. Qualcomm will still have the option to license a design, which is what it already does with Snapdragon CPUs.
A Qualcomm representative denied that the planned release date of late 2023 was a delay in an email sent to PCWorld.
It's natural to assume that Qualcomm's Nuvia ARM processors will compete with Apple's M-series chips. Qualcomm said that its CPUs will be an "M-series competitive solution for the PC."
Perhaps more important than competing with Apple's offering, the Nuvia ARM CPUs will need to stack up well against the best CPUs from Intel and AMD. Qualcomm plans to compete in the high-end space with its Nuvia chips.
"As we think about the next generation, we have been developing our own CPU that has been designed by the Nuvia team, and we are going after that performance…. High scale in the enterprise, and development is on track and we expect to have that in late 2023," said Amon during the earnings call.
