Qualcomm's big chip merge plan paves the way for – wait for it – the return of the Windows Phone

3 weeks ago 6

A woman looking up thoughtfully at an equation that shows a PC added to a Windows Phone equals a question mark.

(Image credit: Shutterstock / HBRH / Dell / Nokia)

Well, it’s finally happening. Qualcomm could be merging its Snapdragon processors for mobile and PC under one consolidated ‘Elite’ brand, bringing us one step closer to the product I’ve always wanted - the perfect union of phone and PC.

Despite the sad downfall of Windows Phone, the divide between phones and PCs has been getting less and less rigid over the years, with the introduction of Windows- and ChromeOS-powered tablets further muddying the waters. The smartphone in your pocket is almost certainly more powerful than a desktop PC from 20 or even 10 years ago, and today’s top-end mobile chips are even more impressive.

Plenty of us - myself included - have grown more comfortable with working from phones and tablets, and software has also evolved to meet these needs: when I was in school, the idea of being able to edit Microsoft Word documents on my crappy flip-phone felt like a distant dream, yet now I’m able to work in Google Docs on my Pixel 8 with ease.

It makes me excited for an entirely new type of product, something that doesn’t exist yet, but could: a device that I can carry around with me and use like a phone, but then slot into a display or keyboard and use as a fully-fledged PC at home.

Strategy shifts

As reported by Wccftech, Qualcomm evidently isn’t the only company working on this, either - since divorcing itself from Intel CPUs for Mac devices, Apple has been hard at work behind the scenes unifying its M-series and A-series chips (the latter of which power the best iPhones). Although Intel remains the dominant force in the PC processor market, it doesn’t make chips for phones, and Qualcomm is coming for Intel’s lunch - even if it won’t be buying Intel out any time soon.

Photos from the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Q&A and hands on event at Computex 2024..

Thanks to Qualcomm’s impressive Snapdragon X Elite chip, Microsoft has finally managed to make Windows on Arm-based chips work, with Prism emulation working wonders for x86 app support (even though it’s not perfect yet). We called the Snapdragon-powered Surface Pro 11 ‘the best Surface ever’ in our review, and I’m here to stand on that.

In fact, Microsoft and Qualcomm’s recent successes mean I’m going to go one step further with my predictions about the future of phone/PC technology: it’s time for Windows Phone to make a comeback, baby!

Rise from the grave, Windows Phone

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon described the Snapdragon X Elite chip as ‘the most disruptive thing in computing since Windows 95’ when he unveiled a new range of Windows laptops with Snapdragon chips at Computex 2024, and I’m inclined to say that he was absolutely right: being able to run Windows on Arm (properly, not the terrible watered-down Windows RT seen on older Surface devices) really is a game-changer.

That’s what I’m asking for, Microsoft: I want a phone that runs a sleek, tile-based Windows OS, preferably with an app store that isn’t totally awful this time around, with the ability to plug it into any monitor (or a specialized docking station) to transform it into a tiny desktop PC capable of doing all my regular daily work tasks. Yes, you can arguably already do this with some finagling, but I want it to be a seamless, effortless switch.

I'm thinking of something like the classic iPhone speaker docks, but for work instead of music. Well, maybe both?

I know that’s a big ask. For starters, the app store is an immediate stumbling block; asking Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella to kiss and make up so I can have a full-fledged Google Play Store on a Windows device probably isn’t going to happen any time soon. We’re also not about to see Qualcomm putting the X Elite chip in a smartphone; the merging I mentioned earlier is likely more of a branding maneuver and an effort to bridge the gap between Qualcomm’s internal chip development teams, probably with the goal of bringing better AI performance to its upcoming Snapdragon phone processors.

Of course, Google has the opportunity to do something absolutely hilarious here and steal this concept right out from under Microsoft. Some of the best Chromebooks already use mobile-standard chips; the rather excellent Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, while sadly now discontinued, used a Snapdragon 7c chip - essentially a modified version of the Snapdragon 7 chip found in many smartphones released around the same time. ChromeOS is already well-suited to lower-powered touchscreen devices, too, and Play Store access wouldn’t be an issue.

So the ball’s in your court, Google. I’ll be waiting…

Christian is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing Editor. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with computer hardware and building PCs. He was a regular fixture amongst our freelance review team before making the jump to TechRadar, and can usually be found drooling over the latest high-end graphics card or gaming laptop before looking at his bank account balance and crying.

Christian is a keen campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and the owner of a charming rescue dog named Lucy, having adopted her after he beat cancer in 2021. She keeps him fit and healthy through a combination of face-licking and long walks, and only occasionally barks at him to demand treats when he’s trying to work from home.

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