Google Chrome for Windows now gets native Arm support

A significant disadvantage of Windows PCs using Arm64 processors, such as Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 9 5G, has been the absence of native support for Chrome, the world’s most popular browser. Windows Central reports that Google has now published a Chrome Canary test version that fully supports the Arm64 platform.

The new version should considerably improve Chrome performance on Arm64 PCs, eliminating the need to use emulation mode. The file may be loaded on PCs running current versions of Windows 11 for Arm CPUs, and one user confirms that it works on a seven-year-old Snapdragon 835 SoC.

Chrome has long been available on Google’s Chromium for Arm64, as well as Linux for Arm64, iOS, and Mac. Furthermore, Microsoft’s Edge browser has been running natively on Arm64 for some years. It might be because there aren’t many Arm64 Windows PCs, and the ones that do exist are very pricey, especially when compared to Chromebooks.

Google may be thinking that now is an ideal moment to launch the functionality, as Qualcomm is about to unveil its Snapdragon X Elite processor, a successor to the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. Based on TSMC’s newest 4-nanometer technology, it promises double the performance of certain 13th-generation Intel Core i7 CPUs while drawing just one-third the power, allowing it to compete more effectively with Apple’s latest M-series hardware.

If Windows laptops powered by the processor can finally achieve the performance that has been lacking in models to far, we may see them come in sufficient numbers. Snapdragon Elite X devices are expected to be released in mid-2024, therefore Google should be ready with a reliable version of Chrome.