Qualcomm Cancels Its Windows On ARM PC Dev Kit

Qualcomm has axed its Windows on Arm PC dev kit, the miniature Windows on Arm PC that was originally supposed to ship in June. Qualcomm said in an email to customers that the kit, otherwise referred to as the Snapdragon X Elite Developer Kit, “has not met our usual standards of excellence” and “we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely.” All units will be refunded, even those that have shipped.

Qualcomm hasn’t explicitly referred to which quality issues it wasn’t satisfied with while making the decision to kill the product. Tech analysts have indicated that the mini PC had similar performance to Apple’s M3 Pro, but lacked Linux support and had onerous resale restrictions too. Qualcomm cancelling this device might come down to an HDMI port, reported The Verge.



While the dev kit was supposed to ship with an HDMI port, developer Jeff Geerling found that all the chips are in place for an internal DisplayPort to HDMI conversion, but the port is missing. The company reportedly emailed people who ordered the dev kit last month to let them know they were planning to ship the device with a USB-C to HDMI dongle instead. Both Microsoft and Qualcomm are encouraging developers to get their apps ready for Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops.

Qualcomm will hold a Snapdragon summit later this month, and it may reveal more about its Snapdragon plans for desktop PCs now that it no longer is pursuing its mini PC product development..