Nvidia's N1x ARM-based laptop processor allegedly delayed again, mid to late 2026 launch likely

Nvidia was expected to launch its first N1x laptop processor this year and we already caught a glimpse of how this chip is supposed to perform against existing models from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and Apple earlier this June thanks to a Geekbench leak. Apparently, the initial plan saw Nvidia launching the N1x at Computex this year, but this unfortunately did not go Team Green’s way and the chip’s launch as well as shipping dates needed to be delayed. 

The first problems for the N1x chip reared their ugly heads back in April this year as some design flaws were discovered, and Nvidia blamed TSMC and even Microsoft for them. Meanwhile, the problems somehow got fixed without any silicon-level changes and Nvidia went on record to claim that full production started this June, with a possible launch window in early 2026. Sources close to Semi Accurate now claim that Nvidia yet again encountered problems and the N1x launch may now get pushed well into 2026.

ARM-based processors designed for PCs seem to run into unforeseen problems more often than not, especially when Windows support is involved. For quite some time, Microsoft struggled to make Windows-on-ARM a thing up until Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon X lineup of processors last year, but even that launch was not entirely smooth. However, we would have expected Nvidia to not run into too many development issues, particularly now that the company recently broke the $4 trillion market cap and is well ahead of Microsoft. 

Still, while the N1x is hitting some bumps in the road, the DGX Spark with its integrated Grace CPU featuring 10 ARM Cortex-X925 + 10 ARM Cortex-A725 cores is almost ready to ship later this month, so Nvidia is somehow entering the PC CPU space this year. Of course, Team Green intends to conquer the entry-level / mid-range space, as well, but we will see if the N1 CPU family manages to fare better than the Qualcomm models against the established Intel / AMD / Apple front line sometime next year.