In context: Poorer performance aside, a big reason for the slow uptake of Arm-based Windows PCs has been the lack of compatibility with many commonly used apps and games. Microsoft has tried to address that with Prism, an emulation layer that lets apps run "great," regardless of whether their developers have baked in support for the architecture; however, Samsung is seemingly contradicting those claims with a new disclaimer.
Samsung has just launched the GalaxyBook Edge 4, its first new Arm-based Copilot+ PC, but it comes with a big asterisk – at least in South Korea. The tech giant is warning its home country buyers that these new AI-powered machines could struggle to run some popular apps.
A fresh notice for the Galaxy Book Edge 4 lists a bunch of apps that might have compatibility issues with these new PCs. The list includes some big names like Adobe Illustrator, Google Drive, and even Microsoft's own Halo Infinite. Gamers might want to think twice, as Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, and Apex Legends are all on the no-go list as well. And it's not just software either: some printers might need new drivers too, according to the notice.
Right now, it's unclear if other PC brands using these Snapdragon chips are hitting the same speed bumps. Still, the warning could be a Korea-only thing. We couldn't find similar notices on Samsung's international sites at the time of writing.
This may seem like a red flag for Copilot+ PCs, but there could be more to the situation. The unique history of Windows in South Korea – because of a 2005 antitrust case – means the country has its own version of the operating system with a few missing components. This could potentially limit these compatibility issues to the Korean market.
Also see: Roundup: Snapdragon X Elite Windows laptop first impressions, performance and battery life preview
As a second comforting thought, Copilot+ PCs are just taking off, so we're likely to see more developers porting their apps to Arm architecture in the coming months. This could significantly expand the range of software that runs smoothly on these machines.
Things could be bumpier for Microsoft compared to Apple's super smooth transition to Arm, considering it doesn't enjoy the tight control over the ecosystem the way Cupertino does. But initial reviews for Snapdragon X Elite laptops have been quite positive, so the architecture could actually take off this time.