From CNET: The "Intel Inside" marketing campaign has put an Intel sticker on millions of personal computers since it launched in 1991. But your next laptop could have Intel outside if rival chip designer Arm gets its way.
Arm's chip technology is used in nearly every iPhone and Android phone in existence, though other companies like Apple, Qualcomm and TSMC actually design and manufacture the processors using that technology. Arm-based laptops today aren't great -- you'll see reviews with complaints like "sluggish compared to Intel" and "just isn't powerful enough" -- but Arm hopes new designs coming in 2019 and 2020 will change that.
"The teams have delivered almost a 2.5X performance gain in a four-year window. That's exceptional," said Ian Smythe, an Arm senior marketing director. That gain, compared with the Cortex-A73 released in 2016, will come with processor designs code-named Deimos in 2019 and Hercules in 2020, he said.
If Arm succeeds, it could change how you think of a laptop as technology that matured in phones arrives in your PC, too. First, you could get all-day battery life, where plugging a power cord into the wall is just something you do at night. Second, you could enjoy the same mobile networks that keep your phone constant connected.
And Arm promises performance that'll take on an Intel Core i5 processor. This year's Arm Cortex-A76 design running at a 3GHz clock speed should be "on par" with an Intel Core i5 hopped up into its 3.5GHz turbo mode -- and it'll consume only 5 watts to Intel's 15W for better battery life. Full performance comparisons will hinge on how the companies licensing Arm chip designs decide to configure attributes like processor cores.
View: Article @ Source Site
