Will PCs using NVIDIA processors appear as early as this year?

It's been quite a while since the PC market last mentioned NVIDIA processors. The last time was with the Surface 2, released in 2013, which used the NVIDIA Tegra 4 chip running Windows 8.1 RT. This was considered a major setback for Microsoft, causing the company to almost abandon its ambitions for Windows on ARM for many years afterward.

 

However, rumors about NVIDIA's return to the PC market are heating up. According to the latest reports, the first Windows-on-ARM computers using NVIDIA processors could appear as early as Q1 2026.

The NVIDIA N1X chip could be released in the next few months.

According to DigiTimes, citing supply chain sources, computers using NVIDIA N1X chips will be released to the market in the next few months, targeting mainstream users. Furthermore, NVIDIA plans to launch three other versions of this processor line within the same generation later this year.

Alongside the N1X, NVIDIA has also begun developing the N2 chip series, which is expected to launch in Q3 2027, indicating that the company has long-term plans and is not just "experimenting for fun".

 

N1X: ARM + Blackwell GPU, a very formidable configuration.

The N1X is rumored to have many similarities to the GB10 platform, which NVIDIA is currently using for its DGX Spark – an AI-focused workstation combining an ARM CPU with a Blackwell GPU.

According to leaked information, the N1X boasts 20 processing cores, coupled with 128GB of LPDDR5X unified memory, developed in collaboration with MediaTek and manufactured on TSMC's 3nm process. Most notably, it features an extremely powerful integrated GPU, with specifications comparable to the desktop RTX 5070.

Besides the N1X, NVIDIA is also reportedly developing a more 'mainstream' version called the N1, but details about both chip lines are currently quite limited.

The report also stated that NVIDIA will provide reference designs to its partners, meaning users may see many PC models running NVIDIA chips from different manufacturers, rather than just a few proprietary devices.

With Qualcomm preparing to launch its next-generation X2 chips, Windows on ARM clearly has a much more favorable starting point than the failed Windows RT attempt in 2012. If the rumors are accurate, the ARM PC market will be more competitive than ever in the next few years, with NVIDIA being a formidable contender.