NVIDIA and MediaTek's new APU for gaming laptops: first use expected in an Alienware laptop

NVIDIA and MediaTek's new Arm-based AI PC processor might be closer to release than we think, where it might have avoided an announcement at Computex 2025, the new APU will be released this year and it should appear inside of a new Alienware gaming laptop.

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We've been hearing about NVIDIA x MediaTek and its new AI PC processor, which will offer up Arm-based CPU cores mixed with GeForce RTX series GPU cores, ready to take the fight to AMD and Intel and their respective Copilot+ AI laptops. In a new post by Taiwan Economic Daily, we're to expect NVIDIA and MediaTek to launch a new dedicated APU for new gaming laptops, with the first appearance being inside one of Dell's upcoming Alienware gaming laptops.

Originally, we heard it would be a desktop-based AI PC processor... but it looks like plans have changed, where the new chip will be an APU that would be unleashed in Q4 2025 or in Q1 2026. We should expect the new APU to feature Arm-based CPU cores, and Blackwell-based GPU cores making for a big shift in the APU market.

NVIDIA is expected to have an exclusive partnership with Dell for its APU, where it will launch inside of new Alienware gaming laptops which we should expect to see unleashed at CES 2026 in early January next year. NVIDIA starting off its gaming APU journey inside of an Alienware gaming laptop makes sense: see how popular it could (and it will) be, before unleashing it inside of other gaming laptops from different laptop manufacturers.

AMD has been making gigantic strides on the APU side of its business, with its new Strix Point APUs offering up to 12 cores and 24 threads of Zen 5 processing power (but full x86 cores) as well as new RDNA 3.5-based GPU cores (up to 16 CUs on Strix Point). From there, AMD has its new enthusiast-grade Strix Halo APU that offers up to 16 cores and 32 threads of Zen 5 power, with a much higher 40 CUs of RDNA 3.5 graphics for proper higher-end gaming inside of a Mini-PC or gaming laptop depending on where Strix Halo is being deployed.

NVIDIA and MediaTek using Arm CPU cores makes for an interesting new market, something Qualcomm has been trying -- and supremely failing -- with its Snapdragon X family of SoCs but because of the Arm cores they run Windows for Arm. This means that gaming flat out sucks on it, but NVIDIA has more up its sleeve.

This is something Moore's Law is Dead and Wendell discuss in a recent podcast, where NVIDIA is powerful enough to have unleashed its new processor inside of a new product designed for gaming and running Linux. However, NVIDIA has enough sway to push Microsoft to allow to run Windows on Arm and most likely spit out FAR superior gaming performance to ANYTHING that Qualcomm is capable of.

A new class of ultra-thin, powerful Arm-based processors for new gaming laptops -- and other Mini-PCs, etc -- will be a fantastic thing to see in late 2025 and into 2026. Qualcomm is really the only player in the space, and while AMD and Intel will push into the Arm-based AI PC processor space, NVIDIA will come in like a wrecking ball and show Qualcomm how it's REALLY done.

CES 2026 should be a banger, that's for sure!