• Michael
• On February 28, 2017

Smartphones with x86 chips may be coming by the end of 2017

Intel is still planning to enter the smartphone market with x86 processors. After the chip maker signed a strategic deal with Spreadrum, the partner has improved the first generation of Atom, and a more powerful eight-core variant based on the Atom architecture will be shipping later in 2017.

Spreadrum SC9861G-IA will be suitable for mid-range smartphones, supporting up to 2560 x 1440 display resolution and dual 13-megapixel cameras. It’s built using the 14 nanometer process, and supports some LTE bands which are specific to China.

But Intel and Spreadrum are planning to create more x86 chips based on newer Atom architecture, such as Goldmont used in Celeron, Pentium and Apollo Lake. According to Intel, the company wants to make chips for any device that needs to connect, and the future smartphone processors will have integrated modems.

Microsoft and hardware partners like Dell were exploring possibilities for launching x86 smartphones with full Windows in 2015, but the plans were scrapped/delayed after Intel focused its resources on the Internet on Things (IoT).

Meanwhile, Microsoft said that an ARM build of Windows 10 will be ready in 2017, which may serve as plan B for the long-rumored Surface Phone.

Source: PC World