Nvidia just announced its new Arm-based laptop chip at Computex 2026, firing a warning shot at Apple (which has had great success with its own Arm-based M-series chips), as well as Intel and AMD.
While Nvidia has been primarily associated with graphics cards and AI in the past, the announcement of its RTX Spark chip, which will power future Windows 11 laptops, could be a real game-changer. While there are a growing number of Windows 11 laptops running on Arm chips, primarily from Qualcomm, the fact that Nvidia, one of the biggest companies in the world, is throwing its hat into the ring is certainly exciting. As Nvidia claimed before the reveal, alongside Microsoft and Arm, a “new era of computing” has begun.
Despite working closely with Qualcomm on Arm-based Windows 11 laptops, Microsoft has failed to match the success Apple has seen with its modern Macs, which ditched Intel processors in 2020 for its incredibly popular M-series chips, including the latest M5 variant.
Nvidia’s entry into laptop processors could prove to be a major shake-up in the industry – and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Is the game on?
The Nvidia RTX Spark comes with 20 CPU cores (the CPU was custom designed by Nvidia and MediaTek) and 6,144 CUDA cores based on the Blackwell architecture. Speaking to representatives from MSI, one of the first hardware makers to make an RTX Spark-powered laptop, this means that the integrated GPU is roughly equivalent to an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU.
It’s a pretty exciting proposition that could pave the way for exceptionally thin and light gaming laptops in the future. For now, however, it is important to note that the RTX Spark laptops will not be aimed at gamers, but rather at content creators.
That’s because it’s still an Arm-based chip, and native compatibility with PC games remains rare without an emulation layer like Prism, which could allow PC games designed for traditional Intel and AMD hardware to run on Arm, but impacts performance.
Instead, the RTX Spark laptops will be aimed more at content creators, and Dell, MSI, and Lenovo are the major laptop manufacturers that will make these laptops.
Rumors suggest that the Nvidia RTX Spark will have a TDP of 45-80W, and since the chip includes both a CPU and GPU, I’m a little concerned that this could mean the N1X struggles in terms of pure gaming performance. Much will depend on the energy efficiency of the chip.
The RTX Spark will also support up to 128GB of LPDDR5X memory and be able to use Nvidia’s gaming technology, such as DLSS upscaling, ray tracing effects, and G-Sync.
What about the rumored Nvidia N1?
Rumors had suggested that Nvidia would also announce a less powerful chip with 12-core (2,560 CUDA cores) and 10-core (2,048 CUDA cores) configurations and support up to 64GB of LPDDR5X memory, but this was not announced during the keynote.
Laptop makers team up
Jensen Huang also brought RTX Spark-equipped laptops from MSI, Lenovo, and other major laptop makers on stage, with the promise that they’ll land “in the fall” – so don’t expect anything until September, I guess.
These laptops will be thin and light, with some sporting tandem OLED displays with G-Sync.
These will be high-end laptops, and perhaps that’s my biggest concern: how much will the RTX Spark laptops cost? No details have been released, but they may eventually be. very Dear. This will likely limit their appeal and popularity, and I hope it doesn’t mean a return to Windows on Arm laptops costing a fortune, as is what happened a few years ago.
If these laptops are more expensive than the MacBook M5 Max (launching at $2,199 / £2,199 / AU$3,499), then they will struggle. So time will tell how scared Apple will be by Nvidia’s new RTX Spark chip.
Jensen Huang will join Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on stage at Build 2026 tomorrow, June 2, where he will discuss the RTX Spark in more detail.
- Check out our Computex 2026 hub for all the latest news from Taipei.
