apple: How former Apple engineers may help Qualcomm to take on Apple’s M1 processor – Times of India

When Apple launched its own silicon-based M1 processors for the Mac range of devices, it was Intel that felt the real heat. However, it looks like another tech giant wants to give Apple a run for its money in the PC chips market. According to a report by The Verge, Qualcomm has announced that it is working on Arm-based processor for Windows PCs that will take on the Apple M1-powered devices.
Qualcomm had spent $1.4 billion earlier this year to acquire Nuvia, a firm that was founded by three former Apple engineers. The three Apple engineers had reportedly worked on the A-series processors that are found in iPhones and iPads.
Nuvia CEO Gerard Williams left Apple in 2019 under rather messy circumstances. Apple sued him and alleged that he had poached other Apple employees and exploited Apple’s tech. Williams countersued Apple and said Apple had illegally kept track of his text messages. The lawsuit is still ongoing but Qualcomm’s announcement may bring back focus on it.
As far as its newly announced processor is concerned, Qualcomm said that these new chips are “designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs”. The company also said that it is looking at leading sustained performance and battery life in the Windows PCs with the new chips. Qualcomm made it clear that the chips will be the M-series competitive solution for Windows PCs.
Qualcomm also revealed that the Nuvia-designed chips will be available in laptops and computers sometime in 2023. This won’t be the first time Qualcomm has dabbled in PC chips as it had partnered with Microsoft on some Surface devices’ processors. Qualcomm is a huge player in the smartphone chipset space and whether former Apple engineers can help it crack the PC market remains to be seen.