Nvidia's first-ever ARM-based SoC for Windows devices is purportedly coming this year. HaYaO on X reports that Nvidia will be introducing two new chips, the N1X at the end of this year and the N1 in 2026.
Nvidia is expected to ship 3 million N1X chips in Q4 this year and 13 million vanilla N1 units next year. Nvidia will be partnering with MediaTek to build these chips, with MediaTek receiving $2 billion in revenue from this joint venture alone, accounting for 8% of its revenue next year.
Originally, it was expected that Nvidia would unveil its new ARM-based SoCs at CES 2025, but that didn't happen. Nvidia used CES 2025 to advertise its all-new RTX 50 series Blackwell gaming GPU lineup and its new Project Digits AI super mini PC. However, it is expected that Nvidia will show off its upcoming ARM-based SoCs in Computex in May, where we'll hopefully get details on the SoC's architecture, core specs, and some performance figures before the chips go mainstream in ARM-based Windows PCs later this year.
Nvidia has been developing its upcoming ARM-based since at least late 2023. Multiple reports have confirmed that the chipmaking giant wants to get into the Windows PC eco-system, building its own chips to compete with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, the latter of which will be its primary competitor on the ARM side.
The N1 and N1X seem to be first model names of the SoCs Nvidia is making from this new joint venture with MediaTek. All we have to go on is the name, with the N1X most likely being Nvidia's flagship model and the N1 being a more mainstream option, similar to how Qualcomm has its X Elite flagship and X Plus mid-range SKUs. Any other details, including the architecture the SoC's will be based on, remain a mystery.
We can expect Nvidia to provide competitive SoCs to the Windows ecosystem when they arrive. Nvidia is no stranger to ARM-based products, having used them extensively in the server market with its Grace CPUs and multimedia/gaming-focused products with its Tegra lineup of processors.
