Not long ago, most people didn’t care about ARM. If you bought a laptop, you looked for Intel or AMD and called it a day. ARM was just something powering your phone or tablet. But now in 2025, things are different. Laptops running on ARM-based processors are not just some side experiment — they’re becoming the default in a lot of places. Apple went all in. Microsoft is getting serious. Qualcomm is ready to flood the market. So what’s actually going on — and is ARM taking over for real?
Performance is no longer the excuse
For years, the main reason people avoided ARM on desktop was power. Everyone thought ARM chips were only good at saving battery, not pushing frames or handling heavy apps. That was true — back then. But once Apple launched its M1 chip, that story collapsed. ARM-based processors started going head-to-head with Intel’s best in real-world use. And now with M3 chips and Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite, performance is not just “good for ARM” — it’s just plain fast.
And not just in theory. Video editors, devs, and content creators are using these chips daily — with fewer slowdowns and crashes than they had with x86 laptops. And all while staying cool, silent, and efficient. These machines are pulling power numbers under 20W while outperforming older 45W Intel chips. That’s not a small difference. That’s a shift.
Apps and software are finally catching up
It doesn’t matter how fast your chip is if your apps run like trash. That was a big problem early on with Windows on ARM. Emulation was clunky, apps were missing, and even basic stuff lagged. That’s changing. Big names like Adobe, Chrome, Zoom, and daVinci Resolve all run natively on ARM now. Devs are starting to treat ARM as normal, not experimental. You don’t need to hunt down special versions of apps anymore.
And if something doesn’t run native? Emulation is way better than it used to be. You can still hit weird bugs now and then, but it’s not like 2020 where things just crashed. Plus, ARM machines boot faster, install updates smoother, and stay cool under pressure. The software finally matches the hardware. It’s not perfect, but it’s usable — daily.
Laptops are the main battlefield
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about desktops yet. High-end gaming rigs and workstations are still ruled by x86 chips — and for good reason. GPUs, PCIe lanes, customization — ARM isn’t built for that level of scale right now. But in the laptop space? That’s where ARM is killing it. People want battery, silence, no fan noise, and less heat. That’s exactly where ARM-based processors shine the most.
Business laptops, school machines, ultra-portables — that’s where the battle is happening. And ARM is winning on weight, battery, and thermal design. A 14-inch MacBook Air can beat most 15-inch Intel machines while lasting twice as long on a charge. No fans. No overheating. Just open it and work.
x86 still has a pulse — but ARM is gaining
Intel and AMD are still in the game. AMD has made solid progress on efficiency, and Intel’s Meteor Lake chips finally started to get better at power usage. But they’re late to the race. ARM figured out efficiency years ago. Now they’re matching performance too. And with Microsoft dropping their Surface line fully onto ARM this year, it’s clear which way things are moving.
That said, some stuff still holds x86 in place — legacy apps, gaming, and pro software tied to specific instruction sets. But even those gaps are closing. More games run on ARM laptops now than ever before, and cloud gaming keeps filling in the rest. The excuses to avoid ARM are shrinking fast.
Conclusion
ARM-based processors aren’t just for phones anymore — they’re running your laptop, quietly replacing x86 chip by chip. In 2025, they’re already dominating the thin-and-light category, and the software is finally playing along. Desktops still belong to x86, for now. But laptops? ARM is already taking the lead. And if the next wave of chips hits as hard as the last two, it’s not a question of if ARM takes over — it’s when.