Qualcomm Oryon is on track to arrive in 2023, the chip maker’s executives announced today (November 16) during its annual Snapdragon Summit. But apart from the CPU’s name and a general time frame for its release, we don’t know too many details about Oryon. That said, expect a balance of power and efficiency, as Qualcomm looks to bring fast, efficient performance to Windows computers as part of its connected computing plans. In a news release about Oryon, Qualcomm also mentioned that 5G and AI will be crucial parts of the new CPU. Qualcomm Oryon draws on the work of Nuvia, a CPU maker that Qualcomm bought in January 2021 for $1.4 billion. “They’ve pushed the boundaries of performance with this CPU,” said Kedar Kondap, senior vice president and general manager of compute and gaming at Qualcomm. While Qualcomm teased its new Oryon CPU during a presentation focusing on its efforts to power always-connected Windows laptops, Oryon figures to be a part of multiple Snapdragon products, including mobile, automotive and the many other areas Qualcomm dabbles in. Oryon replaces Kryo, the current CPU Qualcomm has used since 2015. Kryo will still be a part of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the mobile system-on-chip introduced earlier this week that’s likely to power top Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23. We wish we had more details to share about Qualcomm Oryon and what it will mean for different devices going forward, but Qualcomm’s focus this time around seems to laying the groundwork for additional Oryon news coming next year. Qualcomm’s announcement comes at a time other tech giants are working on their own custom chips, such as Apple with its M and A series chips for Macs and iPhones, respectively, and Google’s Tensor silicon for Pixel phones.
