Lots of comments are expressing skepticism about compatibility but it's pretty cool how Nvidia has the clout to convince a bunch of game publishers and creative apps to release Arm versions. Popular games like League of Legends as well as stuff like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere are getting native Arm ports.
> Over 100 Windows software providers such as Adobe, Blackmagic Design, Blender, CapCut, ComfyUI and OTOY, and game developers such as KRAFTON, NetEase, Remedy Entertainment, Riot Games and XBOX are embracing the new RTX Spark platform. [...] NVIDIA is partnering with Adobe to rearchitect Adobe Premiere and Photoshop for RTX Spark. [0]
> Gaming on Arm is finally coming of age thanks to the NVIDIA partnership. Native anti-cheat solutions from Epic and BattlEye are fully supported on the RTX Spark platform. Major developers are jumping on board, with Riot Games bringing League of Legends and Valorant natively to the architecture, alongside KRAFTON bringing PUBG Battlegrounds. [1]
Also, Nintento Switch is an Nvidia/Arm gaming device so many game publishers already have some experience with the combo.
[0] https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-microsoft-windows-...
[1] https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/06/01/microsoft-builds-it...
Quite a few of those already have arm ports for windows, and have since the 1st gen Snapdragon X Elite. I have the surface laptop 7 with that chip, and I remember it being made a big deal when photoshop & lightroom were ported. I believe Blender also had an arm build for windows a while ago too as did Davinci Resolve (as of 2024 I believe).
The big news is more so on the games side, which is probably where Nvidia had some pull.
I'm curious what "rearchitect for RTS Spark" means in practice though. Sounds like its less convincing them to make an arm build for windows, but they are maybe taking advantage of some hardware specific features? If so, what does that mean for the Snapdragon X series I wonder?
Press releases are easy. Delivering on promises, not so much.
This thread is almost 1:1 identical to when Apple released their own silicon. This has the potential to be a worthy competitor for the Windows ecosystem, precisely because of NVidia’s moat as the grandparent pointed out.
Microsoft pulls in their weight as well, so this seems like it has a decent chance of getting industry support.
Yes, there is a chance but it could also turn into another Itanium. Just because it is a superior product and backed by giants, doesn't necessarily guarantee success.
Not sure how it's comparable to Itanium at all? ARM is not a new architecture. It's not even a new architecture for Windows.
If you can get desktop RTX 5070 performance, oodles of (v)RAM, and minimal power usage out of a thin and light mobile device it's a win. This is change. If you can afford it.
That said, Apple still deserves a lot of credit. They had a 5+ year edge, especially around the vision of tightly integrating the NPU and unified memory.
I think they have a longer lead, considering how long they’ve been making iPhone A-style processors. Migrating the desktop ecosystem to it was only the logical next step.
Like gaming consoles they calculated that unified memory will be cheaper for them in the long run. The funny thing is that while it gave them a unintended edge on local A.I, the "cheaper" calculation, didn't work out so well for them.
In what way hasn't it worked out for Apple? Some of their products are totally sold out.
They are limiting sku's on everything but highest end. The ramocalips is hitting high end RAM, especially hard.
Even on the highest end, the M3 Ultra at 512gb RAM doesn't exist anymore :'(
Actually, I went to the Mac Studio configure page on Apple.com and you can't do higher than 96GB now...
Will this push even more games into Linux?
Most games are Windows games running on Proton.
What would push more games would be Valve actually making it worthwhile to natively target Linux.
You know most of them already have arm versions...
So given how ARM has favored closed-ended boxes like the Switch, how is this any different than a Switch with a keyboard and Windows RT?
Somewhere, a monkey’s paw must have curled its finger.
Apple and Steam have been successfully applying pressure for years. Who's willfully staying behind at this point?