Android-x86 Official Project

Intel vs phones vs ARM vs laptops

The following is a modern re-interpretation of an older article on a completely different subject, call it deja vu. Once again, the concept is the same, and no animals were harmed in the filming of either one.

The laptop business is the subject of much debate of late, with the most heated arguments on the subject of x86 vs ARM, and whether or not ARM chips can invade this traditional x86 market. Those who profess to have a clue about this subject invariably don't for numerous reasons. Unfortunately, these people tend to be the loudest, and are picked up by the vast echo chamber that passes for technology news. To make matters worse, many companies with a vested interest will promote these ignoramuses for their own selfish reasons.

Lets look at the case against ARM in notebooks as Intel is so keen to promote. ARM comes from a traditionally low power environment where high processing performance is secondary to frugal battery use. This space is of course cell phones. In laptops, batteries are more than an order of magnitude larger, and CPU power is more than proportionately larger. The gap between x86 and ARM CPU performance has been shrinking, as has the energy use gap, but ARM is without question the energy use champ. x86 is also without question the CPU performance champ.

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Tags: arm | intel | laptop | smartphone | versus