We already know that the new Macs with the M1 chip deliver impressive performance that surpasses almost all current Macs with Intel processors, but what about Windows PCs? Computer world compared Microsoft Surface Pro X to Apple’s new M1 MacBook Air, and the results put the Surface tablet far behind the Mac.
Although Windows runs on ARM-based machines, not many are currently available to consumers. Microsoft’s Surface Pro X tablet is one of them – with an ARM chip created in collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm.
As noted by Computer world, a huge limitation of Windows on ARM machines is that the operating system was limited to running emulated 32-bit X86 software. In other words, the system was unable to emulate and run 64-bit apps made for AMD and Intel processors.
32-bit software runs at significantly lower performance – and Apple removed them in 2019 with macOS Catalina. At the same time, Apple introduced Rosetta 2 technology for the new M1 Macs, which basically translates any software made for Intel Macs into an ARM binary that works better on Apple Silicon computers.
Microsoft recently released a beta version of Windows that emulates 64-bit X86 software, but performance is still not even close to the new Macs with the M1 chip. In a Geekbench 5 test, Surface Pro X was outdone by the new M1 MacBook Air and also behind a low-cost HP Pavilion laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor.
Another test was conducted with HandBrake, an open-source video transcoding software. While the new M1-chip MacBook Air converted a 12-minute 4K video to a 1080p H.265 format in about 23 minutes, Surface Pro X ARM took 2 hours to complete the same operation.
The SQ1 chugged at about a frame per second, taking about two hours to transcode a 12-minute 4K video, Tears of Steel, to a 1080p H.265 format. Apple’s MacBook M1 just blows the Surface Pro X away.
At the end of the day, even with the improvements Microsoft has made to Windows, ARM machines are at a disadvantage compared to M1 Macs. Based on his tests, Computer world says “Windows on Arm needs a miracle” to achieve the performance of the new Macs with Apple Silicon chips.
But it’s hard to believe that further development will bridge the huge performance gap between Windows on Arm and Apple’s M1-based Macs. In six months, Microsoft can boast that emulation performance has improved significantly. But without the combined wonder of a much better CPU from Qualcomm or another Arm chipmaker and continuous improvements from Microsoft, the future of Windows on Arm looks grim.
Interestingly, developers were able to emulate Windows 10 on M1 Macs, and the Mac scored better in a Geekbench test than Surface Pro X with Windows 10 natively on ARM.
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