Nvidia's rumored N1X CPU has been a long time coming, but it may be another while until the Arm-based chip arrives due to major production issues.
The custom Arm CPU is now being pushed back until late 2026, according to tech site SemiAccurate. Sources state that the chip has been hit with problems that require engineers to make design changes to the silicon, with the report calling it another "whoopsie."
The Arm-based laptop chip was initially expected to be revealed back at Computex 2025, but clearly, Nvidia wasn't ready to announce its all-new CPU for gaming laptops, and it won't be for some time, according to the report.
Apparently, this is one of several delays, with Nvidia facing problems that caused a roadblock in the CPU arriving in early 2026. While this was reportedly handled, the new N1X chip is now rumored to be suffering from another hurdle.
Now, Nvidia did officially announce that a new Arm-based CPU is in the works, and would be arriving in a "one-year rhythm." However, with the reported issues, this may not fall in line with CEO Jensen Huang's roadmap.
The report doesn't state the specific problem with the chip, just that it's causing a delay in production. If accurate, it could be another year until we see Nvidia's custom CPU — likely closer to CES 2027.
Time for upgrades?
Recent reports have detailed that Nvidia's Arm-based CPU delivers the same performance as an RTX 4070-equipped laptop, with the benchmarks indicating it could be launching in late 2025 or early 2026. Now, this may not be the case, but it does leave room for possible improvements.
Rumor has it that the Arm-based chip will use a Blackwell-based GPU, with a smaller GB10 Blackwell chip for laptops or a GB206 model as seen in RTX 5060 Ti or RTX 5060 graphics cards. It's also believed to use 65W power to match the performance of a 120W RTX 4070 laptop GPU, which is already impressive, while other leaks suggest the chip would offer a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 80W to 120W.
This would give gaming laptops more ultraportable designs, with better power efficiency that could translate to improved battery life (something even the best gaming laptops today struggle with). But with this delay, perhaps Nvidia has time to refine its custom CPU, giving it even greater power gains to match current and upcoming chips.
But if the delay is accurate, it also gives time for Nvidia's competition to bolster its offerings. For one, the AMD Strix Halo APU already delivers close to RTX 4060 desktop GPU power, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Series chip is set to arrive soon.
Only time will tell when we see Nvidia's N1X Arm-based CPU arrive, but in the meantime, we'll be enjoying what its RTX 50-series GPUs have to offer.
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