By @CNET
Publication Date: 2026-02-23 19:00:00
Nvidia is not content to simply dominate the GPU market. According to a Wall Street Journal report, it’s prepping a system-on-chip that integrates the central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU) and neural processing unit (NPU) for consumer laptops. And we could see laptops from Dell and Lenovo with this new silicon in just a few months.
Nvidia and MediaTek partner for Arm chip
Nvidia is partnering with MediaTek to build this new chip. Like system-on-chips (SoC) from Qualcomm and Apple, it will be based on Arm architecture as opposed to the x86 architecture used by Intel and AMD. And unlike high-end gaming and creator laptops with dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs, laptops with this new Nvidia-designed, MediaTek-manufactured SoC are expected to be thin and light and long running. The new chips will reportedly be labeled as N1 and N1X.
The vast majority of laptops with the best battery life that I’ve tested in the past year have used an Arm-based chip from Qualcomm or Apple, so I expect laptops based on this upcoming Nvidia SoC to offer fantasy battery life. Given Nvidia’s prowess with graphics processors, the biggest question I have is how much power can we expect from the integrated GPU in this new chip? Will we see thin-and-light designs that offer long battery life and strong graphics performance, up to and including the ability to play AAA titles at reasonable resolutions and quality settings?
While Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptops offer lengthy battery…