I'm what you'd call a hardcore desktop user. I've been using desktop PCs for 24 years now, and outside of my 2-year MBA, I've never really used a laptop as a daily driver. But, as they say, change comes for everyone. During the last 2-3 years, when I've been away from my desktop and have had to work on a spare laptop or iPad, I've realized that I'm in sore need of a dedicated, powerful, portable machine.

Since I've only loosely stayed on top of the laptop space over the years, I decided to do my homework this time. And saying that I'm confused is an understatement. The Windows on ARM movement has been gaining more traction than I initially anticipated, Intel is cooking up interesting stuff with Lunar Lake, AMD's Strix Point CPUs are almost upon us, and I always have the option of getting a MacBook of course, just to be done with deliberation.

It seems I've decided to buy a laptop at the worst time possible; I'll have to wait and watch the chips fall where they may in a few months' time.

4 I'm impressed with Snapdragon X but...

Native and emulated app support isn't there yet

We all knew that the third coming of Windows on ARM, thanks to Microsoft, was going to be starkly different from what came before. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips were built from scratch to truly make Windows on ARM happen like never before. Whatever roadblocks that prevented widespread adoption in the past — lack of native apps, inferior performance, and poor familiarity with ARM chips — Qualcomm and Microsoft have prepared to overcome them this time around.

Our initial testing certainly proves that performance is one area where the Snapdragon X Elite beats the current Intel chips in almost every benchmark. Wherever you look, you'll see the new Snapdragon X laptops race ahead of almost all Intel and AMD competitors we have right now. They're also ahead of Apple's M2 and M3 chips, at least in single-core and multi-core performance alone.

Battery life is where Apple still remains king, but Qualcomm has managed to edge past Intel and AMD machines comfortably. But that brings us to the elephant in the room. What will I use all that battery life for, if the apps I use the most don't run properly on my Snapdragon X laptop? Sure, I can run Chrome, Slack, and DaVinci Resolve, but Adobe still doesn't have native ARM versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects.

Microsoft's Prism emulator works for some x86 applications, but there's still a ways to go before it's at a point where I could be confident that a Snapdragon X laptop would run everything reliably from day one. When it comes to the graphics performance, Intel and AMD are still ahead, with Snapdragon X Elite taking the win over Apple's M3. Furthermore, I don't even see myself using most of the Copilot+ AI features powered by the 45 TOPS-worth Snapdragon X NPU.

3 Intel might pull ahead with Lunar Lake

Both performance and battery life are set to be upgraded

Qualcomm may have managed to deliver on its performance and battery life claims, but Intel isn't sitting idly by. Team Blue has promised to "bust the myth" that Arm is more efficient than x86 — with its next-gen Lunar Lake laptop chips, the company is making some big changes. Firstly, where Meteor Lake CPUs didn't even qualify for Copilot+ due to their 11.5 TOPS NPU, Lunar Lake will feature up to 48 TOPS.

Secondly, Intel is rumored to have modified its microarchitecture by bringing the RAM to the CPU die itself (similar to Apple silicon) and getting rid of hyperthreading. These changes, combined with the gen-on-gen performance uplift, could see Intel recapture some of the performance and battery life lead it has lost to the Snapdragon X CPUs.

Intel has been challenged like never before, as Windows on Arm is gaining trust from multiple OEMs, developers are being incentivized to put out more and more native apps, and consumers are anticipating another "Apple M1 moment" to happen on the Windows side. This means the company might have to bring some seriously big improvements with Lunar Lake, and I'm willing to wait a few months before making a purchase decision.

2 AMD's Ryzen AI 300 chips are also on the way

Ryzen has served me well on my desktop

With the AI PC era truly upon us, AMD is obviously coming out with its own AI processors. The Ryzen AI 300 chips, code named Strix Point, will be available somewhere in the second half of July. While this launch is rumored to be relatively limited compared to Snapdragon X and Lunar Lake, I think it's worthwhile to see what AMD can deliver, especially since it's promising up to 50 TOPS of AI performance and a big boost in overall performance.

Most of the media hype and excitement might be focused on the Snapdragon X and Lunar Lake processors, but I'm personally looking forward to the Ryzen competition. I might have somewhat of a bias as I've been on the Ryzen platform on my desktop since it first came out in 2017. Having said that, it doesn't hurt to wait and watch, since I'm already holding off on my decision until Lunar Lake comes out later this year.

1 I have half a mind to switch to Apple silicon

Being a lifelong Windows user, that's saying something

I know switching to macOS after 24 years of using Windows might be a big transition, but I feel the transition won't be as harsh for me as for many others. I've occasionally used macOS on my partner's MacBook Air M1 and iMac M1, so I have a surface understanding of what I'm getting into. I've also tried to use my iPad as a laptop (with disappointing results), so I also know some challenges that will carry over from iPadOS to macOS.

Despite that, I'm willing to consider a MacBook over an x86 or Arm Windows laptop, as the matured platform and ecosystem benefits might just make the switch worthwhile. Say what you will about Apple, but their devices have a stellar reputation when it comes to "just working." Having witnessed some of the ecosystem advantages first-hand (we also have an Apple TV now), I'd have to agree.

Even if I disregard the ecosystem features, the superior battery life and stability of, say, an M3 MacBook Air (even compared to the Snapdragon X Elite laptops) are reasons enough to consider it. It might take some time to get used to the new way of doing things, but that's a small price to pay. I guess it all comes down to what Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD will be offering at the price of an M3 MacBook Air.

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times

It's great that the laptop space is abuzz with so many exciting developments that I can't decide whether to take the plunge or wait for something better. But it also makes life tough for consumers who are looking for something to buy right now. No one wants to regret their purchase just a few months later. If you're firmly tied to Apple and looking for an upgrade, the decision might be fairly simple for you.

However, if you're after a new Windows laptop and just as confused between x86 and Arm as I am, I think waiting is the right decision for now. Let's see if Intel delivers on its lofty Lunar Lake claims, and discover what AMD is cooking up with Strix Point. Plus, many more Snapdragon X laptops are coming out soon, so we'll have a lot more information available to make a better decision in the near future.