- Bombastic marketing aside, there is no denying
that Apple's launch of their M1 powered MacBooks
has been a wild success.
The ARM architecture has finally arrived
on a desktop operating system,
which wait, hold on a second.
Wait, Microsoft has had multiple native ARM versions
of Windows going back to like 2012 and the 2020 edition
of their flagship ARM PC.
The Surface Pro X actually launched an entire month
before the M1 Mac.
So why does it sucks so bad that I forgot it existed
until I read these words on the teleprompter.
Let's explore that,
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Both Apple and Microsoft deserve credit
for adapting their x86 operating systems to run on ARM.
But while their goals were similar,
the strategies they used were quite different.
And to see why, we have to go back buddy.
Not to the future, to the past.
So it's just the regular type of going back.
Microsoft released their first ARM native OS, Windows RT
in 2012 on the original Surface Tablet
which was powered by an NVIDIA Tegra Three ARM SoC.
People hated it.
Mostly because it couldn't run basically anything
and it died off by 2015.
But then in late 2016,
Microsoft announced Windows 10 on ARM,
a 64-bit OS that would allow Windows laptops
powered by Qualcomm processors
to enjoy smartphone-like benefits
like built-in LTE connectivity and long battery life.
Thin and light ARM notebooks
based on Windows 10 on ARM trickled into the market
and in 2019, Microsoft released the first Surface Pro X.
It was powered by the Microsoft SQ1
which was essentially a modified version
of the Snapdragon 8cx, Qualcomm's laptop SoC.
Then just a couple months ago,
Microsoft updated the Surface Pro X with the SQ2,
which is again a modified version of Snapdragon ACX
but this time gen two.
As they've always done, Microsoft clearly focused more
on the software side of things,
relying on established ARM chip makers like Qualcomm
to build desktop class ARM processors.
But Apple, well, you might say they thought different.
Every iPhone and iPad for the last 10 years has run
on both Apple designed ARM processors
and an Apple designed operating system,
iOS and then later iPadOS respectively.
And while Microsoft has been adapting their desktop OS
to run on lower power mobile chips,
Apple has been adapting their mobile OS to custom chips
to drive higher power near desktop class experiences.
And that's a strategy that seems to have paid off here.
As we said in our last few iPad Pro videos,
with iPadOS, a keyboard, trackpad and the right apps,
the iPad can replace your laptop.
Don't at me unless it's to tell me how great I look
in my LTT Store tuque.
Thank you by the way.
But we're not here to talk about tuques
or iPads for that matter.
We're here to talk about laptops.
So let's get back to our arm wrestling contenders.
The M1 MacBook Air
and the Surface Pro Access Q2 represent Apple
and Microsoft best attempts yet
at creating native ARM laptops.
Okay well the Mac Mini and MacBook Pro
are actually Apple's best attempts but,
it wouldn't be fair to use them in this comparison.
You guys get the idea.
So how do they compare?
Both systems feel snappy while just navigating the OS,
doing basic web browsing and even using Microsoft Office.
They're quick to wake from sleep, log you in biometrics
and their batteries have no problem lasting
the entire workday.
It's pretty safe to say that the average Mac OS
or Windows user probably wouldn't even realize
that these machines are built
on a completely different architecture than they're used to.
And this is where we have to drop the
both of them are pretty great angle.
If you've already seen any of our M1 Mac videos
you'll know just how surprisingly impressive
their performance is.
Not just while running native ARM apps,
but also while emulating x86
both 32 and 64-bit apps through Rosetta Two.
And if you watched our review of the first Surface Pro X,
you'll also know that Windows on ARM
hasn't officially supported x86-64 emulation up until now
which is exactly why we were excited to do this comparison.
Because on December 10th, Microsoft added x64 emulation
to the insider preview of Windows.
Now was in the Dev Channel, which is the earliest
and least consumer ready of the three insider channels,
but we were really excited to take it for a spin.
And after installing it,
well on every benchmark we could actually get running
on the Surface Pro X,
the M1 MacBook Air just to put it simply dominated.
The M1 performed over twice as well as the SQ2
in our browser benchmarks and Geekbench
even after updating the Surface Pro X firmware.
And in case you're wondering why Chrome did so poorly,
here's the thing.
Chrome still doesn't have a native ARM version on Windows
despite having one for Chrome OS and for Mac OS.
I mean, this is rough.
We had hoped that Windows on ARMs new x86 emulation
would allow for some direct comparisons
with more 64-bit benchmarks.
But the only one that worked on the Pro X was Cinebench
where the M1 (clears throat) took an even more drastic lead.
We were able to install and open LuxMark for a few seconds
but we gave up on actually completing the benchmark
after hours of crashing.
And as for HandBrake, well we got it open 30 seconds
after clicking the icon, then it promptly crashed.
And our aspirations of comparing performance
between Adobe apps with PugetBench died
when it became apparent that Adobe
will not let you install anything
but the recently released native ARM versions
of Lightroom and the Photoshop Beta on Windows on ARM.
Maybe that's for the best though
considering that the M1 had absolutely no problem opening
and running these x64 apps as if they were native.
As we mentioned in our M1 videos
that is partially because Apple built in
specialized hardware that helps to translate
x86 instructions to ARM.
But here's the thing,
knowing the why doesn't really soften the blow, does it?
So maybe the Surface Pro X has suffered enough.
JK. It hasn't yet.
As luck would have it,
we were able to get Windows 10 on ARM running
on the MacBook Air in a virtual machine
thanks to some super helpful guides posted online.
It wasn't the latest insider build with X60 formulation,
but it seemed to run pretty smooth and more importantly
we actually got a higher Geekbench score
in a virtualized Windows installation,
running on a MacBook than we got
on Microsoft's flagship Windows 10 on Arm device
running natively.
So am I just here to kick Microsoft while they're down
for putting out a product that costs
with a keyboard attachment a hundred dollars more
than a MacBook that absolutely leaves it bleeding
and unconscious in the dirt?
(laughs) Really that was one heck of an arm wrestle,
wasn't it?
No sir, no, I am not.
I know that the Windows on ARM team is working hard
to get PC laptops ready for this ARM powered revolution.
So what I am here to say is this,
if Microsoft is serious about keeping up with Apple,
they're just going to have to work harder at it.
But in more ways than one,
Apple might've actually helped Microsoft
a bit in this regard.
Windows on ARM has been out since 2017,
but the list of x86 apps
that have received native ARM versions is not very long.
But then as soon as Apple unveiled the M1 Mac,
app makers scrambled to release native ARM versions
of their apps, Firefox, Chrome, Lightroom and Photoshop,
I mean even Microsoft themselves updated Office 365
to play nice with M1.
So as a Qualcomm rep said,
it appears that Apple has validated the concept
of powerful ARM-based PCs, meaning that with the release
of these new Macs,
well the Surface Pro X might lose one-on-one
against the new MacBook.
Apple has made waves that could carry Microsoft to,
well probably not exactly where Apple's at right now,
but they could carry them somewhere.
Also the day we filmed this video,
Bloomberg reported that Microsoft is working
on designing its own in-house ARM processors.
So maybe that will help close the gap.
Nice one Microsoft, and also my condolences Intel.
Now in case you're angrily thinking,
"Hey Linus, I love my Surface Pro X
or similar Windows on ARM device."
Honestly?
No, but I'm happy for you.
And if you stick to only using apps with native ARM versions
and you don't do anything too hardware intensive,
Windows on ARM devices can be a nice experience.
And who knows, maybe the consumer ready version of Windows
with X60 formulation will turn your glorified Chromebook
into a full PC.
That is a future we all wanna see.
I'm just not too hopeful until the silicon gets
a little more (clears throat) caught up.
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If you guys enjoyed this video,
you might also enjoy our full review
of the M1 Based MacBook Air.
I thought I realized I called it MacBook the whole time.
Whatever. M1 MacBook Air.
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We'll link it somewhere.
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