Microsoft is holding VPNs back from supporting Snapdragon

A man getting frustrated with his laptop — (Image credit: Getty Images/vladans)

If you've been staying up to date with the latest laptop releases you've probably seen that the new Snapdragon ARM-powered machines are breaking new ground in terms of performance and battery life. But one area that we're worried about is privacy.

That's because, as it stands, only a handful of the best VPNs actually work on Snapdragon X Elite-powered Windows laptops, like the excellent new Dell XPS 13. But why is that the case?

Dell XPS 13 (2024) — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Emulation frustration

So, why are the majority of VPNs not working? Well, pretty much all apps on ARM laptops need to either be specially developed for the x86_64 architecture of ARM machines, or emulated from traditional formats. Unfortunately due to the nature of VPNs, a rough-around-the-edges emulation isn't an option.

Peter Membrey, Chief Engineering Officer at ExpressVPN explains, "Emulation doesn't fare well when software is specialist or integrates deeply with the operating system. And such software tends to use not just the VPN software itself but also the custom drivers."

So with emulation off the table, providers have to create their own ARM-specific apps, and they're in the works. But multiple providers have told us they're facing the same problem...

The search for signatures

If I told you that it was a signature that was stopping users from protecting themselves with top VPNs, then you'd probably think I was making it up, but that's genuinely the case.

Some providers like Surfshark and Windscribe have gotten in ahead of the curve with fully functional ARM apps, but by reaching out to providers we've learnt that both NordVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) have been waiting for Microsoft's sign-off to launch their compatible apps.

Himmat Bains, Head of Product at PIA, explained. "We have been working on PIA’s ARM-native application for some time now. We were temporarily held up by a delay in driver certificate signing from Microsoft, but this has now been granted," adding that "we will have a beta version ready for PIA users in the coming weeks."

As for our current #1 choice of VPN, it could be a similar wait. In a statement, NordVPN said, "our ARM-native NordVPN application is in the final stages of development, and we are working to launch it as soon as possible. At the moment, we are collaborating closely with Microsoft to obtain the necessary driver signing certificate, which is a crucial step in ensuring the application’s security and compatibility with Windows on ARM-based devices."

So for the moment, it looks to be a waiting game, but if you have one of these laptops, you could always try one using one of the best router VPNs to apply protection to every device in your network.

Andy is a freelance writer with a passion for streaming and VPNs. Based in the U.K., he originally cut his teeth at Tom's Guide as a Trainee Writer before moving to cover all things tech and streaming at T3. Outside of work, his passions are movies, football (soccer) and Formula 1. He is also something of an amateur screenwriter having studied creative writing at university.