The performance and power efficiency of Apple's M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips have wowed us over the past year, and now chipmaker Qualcomm, with the help of a former Apple employee, has announced plans to debut a competing chip in 2023.

Until recently, laptops with integrated CPU/GPU architecture SoCs (system-on-chips) have tended to underwhelm performance. This is in comparison to the more traditional discrete CPU/GPU arrangement found in most PCs. Apple's custom-built M-Series SoCs have changed all of this, delivering incredible leaps in power and efficiency in laptops such as the 2020 MacBook Air M1 and the 2021 MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max. If Qualcomm can deliver on its promise to introduce a SoC that rivals Apple's M-series chips, 2023 could bring a new wave of Windows laptops that are far more powerful and battery efficient than anything currently on the market.

Of course, whether Qualcomm can deliver on this promise remains to be seen; according to The Verge, Qualcomm CTO Dr. James Thompson said as much at an investor event in 2021. Specifically, Qualcomm plans to offer new ARM-based chips to hardware makers in 2022, which it claims will compete with Apple's M-series chips and set a new standard for power consumption and efficiency in Windows PCs. If this happens, Qualcomm says the new chip will be in new laptops and other PCs by 2023. Qualcomm also plans to apply the chip to mobile devices, cars, and data centers.

The new chips are being designed by the folks at Nuvia, a startup founded by three former Apple engineers with backgrounds in chip design. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia earlier this year for about $1.4 billion, and shortly after, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told Reuters that the company plans to manufacture the M1 chip killer with its newly hired former Apple experts.

We know when Qualcomm plans to launch its chip, but we'll have to wait and see how well it stacks up against the latest Apple silicon By 2023, the long-rumored Apple M2 chip (inside the new MacBook Air in 2022 is expected to debut inside the new MacBook Air in 2022) will be old news, and Apple may have brought something even better to market.

Qualcomm also promises improved performance from the Adreno GPU that powers the graphics in its Snapdragon mobile chipsets; Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops have generally proven to have a long life, but discrete Snapdragon-based Windows notebooks have generally proven to be long-lived, but underpowered compared to notebooks with discrete Intel/AMD CPUs. However, that could change if Qualcomm plans to introduce the Apple M series chip killer in 2023.