Processor ARM race heats up as Nvidia could soon challenge Intel, AMD and Apple with its N1X laptop CPU

• Laptops packing Nvidia's N1X are set to arrive in Q1 2026, rumor claims
• That means these notebooks should debut in the next two months
• Further models are to follow in Q2 2026, and the next-gen N2 series should launch later in 2027

Nvidia's big consumer chips for PCs, the Arm-based N1 and N1X, could finally be about to arrive if a new rumor is correct.

A report from DigiTimes (hat tip to VideoCardz) claims that laptops with Nvidia's N1X chip inside will be launching in the first quarter of 2026. So, within the next two months.

These will target the consumer market, and three other variants will be on sale in Q2, we're told. Presumably, that includes the base N1 chip, which is less powerful, but still intended for producing 'high-end AI computing platforms' – the N1X is the more performant CPU which will be aimed at notebooks for professionals, the report observes.

There's still some confusion around the naming and where exactly the N1 and N1X will fit into the CPU landscape, with some guessing that the N1 will be a desktop chip, and the N1X a mobile (laptop) chip. However, DigiTimes makes it clear that both the N1 and N1X will appear in laptops (add your own seasoning, naturally). That doesn't mean that there couldn't be a desktop variant of one of these chips as well, though, and perhaps that's still planned.

Following the N1 series, the next-gen N2 silicon will take the baton for Nvidia in the third quarter of 2027, the report claims.

Obviously, be skeptical about that timeframe in particular, because even if Nvidia has plans for these N2 chips, this schedule may end up going awry (what with the silicon still being relatively early in development).

Analysis: a chip to worry AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, and even Apple?

The rumor comes from supply chain sources, we're informed, and the delay of the N1 series – which was supposed to arrive late in 2025 as per the original speculation about Nvidia's Arm CPU – is due to Team Green fine-tuning these chips, and "Microsoft OS timelines", the report states.

The latter presumably refers to Windows 11 26H1, which is a new spin on the OS specifically for Snapdragon X2 chips – and seemingly Nvidia's N1 silicon, too, as that's Arm-based and a direct rival for Qualcomm's processors powering Windows 11 laptops. So, the launch of the N1 and N1X being put back to wait for this 26H1 update – which isn't being delivered to non-Arm Windows PCs (AMD and Intel) – makes sense.

Still, we must be cautious because, as already noted. I don't rank DigiTimes as one of the most reliable sources out there, but it can, on occasion, dig up useful and accurate rumors from the supply chain. The purported launch timing seems believable enough given what I've just outlined, and also we've heard rumors suggesting similar plans in the past – such as an Alienware laptop with an Nvidia CPU aiming for a Q1 2026 launch.

Those past rumors indicate why the N1X is a chip to get excited about, too, and why not just Qualcomm, but Intel and AMD (as well as Apple) might be very worried here. Remember that the grapevine reckons the N1X's integrated graphics are, in terms of raw core count, the equivalent of the RTX 5070 GPU. If you're expecting RTX 5070-level performance in a laptop, mind, think again – I've discussed why in the past (it's down to the power envelope and thermals, and also memory issues). But nonetheless, the N1X is still shaping up to be a highly performant chip for notebook gaming (or creative usage), make no mistake.

Back to the rumor from DigiTimes itself, and if you wanted to argue a case against this report, you might point out that this is a difficult climate to launch fresh laptop silicon, given the predictions of falling PC sales due to spiking prices of notebooks wrapped up in the current RAM (and storage) crisis. However, if Nvidia made the decision to wait, the trouble is how long would the company have to hang on? The RAM crisis isn't going anywhere in the foreseeable future – potentially lasting through to 2028 – so Nvidia biding its time until this all blows over isn't an option realistically.

A better question is if these laptops are that close, why didn't Nvidia show off the N1X at CES 2026 recently? I haven't got an answer for that one, except that maybe Team Green wants to carry out a standalone launch that gives the spotlight entirely to this new Arm-based silicon to make a big splash for the entrance of these laptops.

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