The resurgence of ARM-powered PCs in the Windows ecosystem is shaping up as one of the most significant narratives in the ongoing quest for high-performance, energy-efficient computing. With the imminent arrival of Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon chips, attention has turned not only to raw processing capability but also to subtler, everyday UX nuances—such as how well these devices manage eye comfort with external displays. Recent signals from Dell and confirmation from technical sources have made it clear that a notable limitation—Night Light support for external monitors on ARM PCs—may soon become a thing of the past.
Windows 11’s Night Light feature, designed to protect users’ eyes by reducing blue light after dark, has become a staple of both professional and home computing. For users of x86-based Intel and AMD PCs, Night Light works seamlessly whether they’re viewing content on a laptop screen or an external monitor. However, those who have embraced ARM-based Snapdragon PC platforms have discovered a nagging shortfall: Night Light only works with their device’s built-in display. Plug in an external monitor, and the feature simply refuses to activate.
This is more than a minor annoyance—it’s symptomatic of the real-world growing pains ARM deals with on Windows. While app compatibility woes have largely faded as the app gap narrows, and native ARM64 applications now flourish, core hardware-level limitations remain. The crux of the matter, as clarified by Dell in its recently surfaced support documents, is that this limitation is not a bug in Windows 11, nor a misconfiguration by users. Rather, it is an intrinsic hardware constraint of the current-generation Qualcomm Oryon chipsets found in Dell’s Inspiron 14 5441, Inspiron 14 Plus 7441, Latitude 5455, Latitude 7455, and XPS 13 9345.
This hardware-driven limitation renders software or driver updates moot for those hoping for a quick fix. Dell’s position is unequivocal: there are no immediate plans to patch, update, or otherwise extend true Night Light support to current ARM model lines. For end-users, that means any attempts to toggle Night Light on an external display will end in frustration.
Dell’s support literature does offer an ersatz solution, albeit not a perfect one: users are encouraged to seek out third-party applications—such as Dell’s own Display and Peripheral Manager—or adjust colour presets directly within external monitor menus. The idea is to manually simulate the warmer, eye-friendly hues Night Light aims to deliver.
There is also a swathe of independent blue light filtering tools on the market, ranging from sophisticated software to simple colour temperature adjusters. Tools like f.lux or Iris have long been popular among Windows users for precisely this sort of scenario, providing more granular control than Windows’ own Night Light. However, these utilities come with their own ecosystem fragmentation and, in some cases, compatibility constraints.
The unfortunate reality is that none of these solutions can be considered a truly integrated, first-party answer; they are, by definition, workarounds, requiring additional effort, configuration, and, sometimes, expense, from the user. Those seeking seamless, out-of-the-box support will need to keep waiting.
While Qualcomm has not yet officially detailed the exact architectural changes, all indicators point to a redesigned display pipeline and driver stack that will enable features like Night Light at the hardware level, irrespective of the display output type. It is widely believed this upgrade will reach market in late 2025 or early the following year, with early announcements potentially coming in the fall.
Early reviews and user experiences with current Snapdragon X Elite laptops, as articulated by enthusiasts like Devin Arthur, have highlighted unexpectedly strong battery life and performance parity with x86 machines. Next-gen chips are projected to double down on these strengths: higher clock speeds, efficiency gains, improved GPU drivers (potentially with more robust DirectX 12 support), and a broader ecosystem of ARM-native software.
It’s worth noting that ARM’s advantages continue to shine brightest in sustained battery performance, connectivity, and thermals. However, with each new chip iteration, the delta in raw speed, compatibility, and expandability narrows. The prospect of widespread, “app gap”-free ARM machines with all the trimmings is closer than ever.
Other major players—HP, Lenovo, Asus—will almost certainly follow a similar trajectory. As rival Snapdragon designs hit the market, OEMs are likely to tout across-the-board feature parity with x86 laptops—not just in performance benchmarks, but in those crucial day-to-day experience metrics like display management, co-processor offloading, and AI-accelerated tasks.
Part of this boils down to the arsenal of legacy display drivers and firmware that legacy Windows PC hardware has grown up with—a collection of tweaks, optimizations, and backwards-compatible features honed over decades. ARM platforms are catching up, but OEMs and chip suppliers like Qualcomm must still climb a steep learning curve.
This is particularly apparent with advanced display technologies. Night Light, HDR, variable refresh rate, hardware-accelerated colour management, and adaptive sync are all areas where ARM-based PCs have showed lagging or inconsistent support compared to their x86 peers. The arrival of next-gen ARM chips provides a crucial opportunity to level this playing field—but true parity will require tight coordination between chip vendors, OEMs, and Microsoft.
This table shows where the landscape stands today—and where it may land once Qualcomm’s next chip generation is in consumers’ hands. The upshot is that by 2025, the external display and advanced colour pipeline on ARM-based Windows laptops should finally achieve the consistency, compatibility, and polish long enjoyed by their x86 siblings.
Another risk is ecosystem drift: if monitor manufacturers or third-party software providers do not rapidly update their firmware and apps to interface correctly with new ARM display pipelines, a transition period marked by inconsistency and growing pains is very possible. Historically, both OEMs and Microsoft have had mixed records with timing and rollout of such driver-dependent features.
Finally, users should be wary of conflating “Night Light” with more general colour management or blue light reduction. Not all features are created equal, and the precise implementation (and its impact on eye comfort or sleep) can vary widely between hardware, software, and display technologies.
While current ARM users must still resort to workarounds for full-spectrum Night Light support, the light—quite literally—at the end of the tunnel appears near. For now, those who depend on this feature should weigh their use case and consider waiting for the hardware refresh, rather than chasing imperfect stopgaps.
With new chips, richer software maturity, and deeper collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and OEMs, the next year is set to deliver ARM-powered Windows laptops that are more universally appealing—and perhaps, finally, unequivocally recommendable for all.
Source: Windows Latest Dell says Windows 11’s next-gen ARM PCs to improve external monitor support
The Night Light Dilemma on Snapdragon Windows PCs
Windows 11’s Night Light feature, designed to protect users’ eyes by reducing blue light after dark, has become a staple of both professional and home computing. For users of x86-based Intel and AMD PCs, Night Light works seamlessly whether they’re viewing content on a laptop screen or an external monitor. However, those who have embraced ARM-based Snapdragon PC platforms have discovered a nagging shortfall: Night Light only works with their device’s built-in display. Plug in an external monitor, and the feature simply refuses to activate.This is more than a minor annoyance—it’s symptomatic of the real-world growing pains ARM deals with on Windows. While app compatibility woes have largely faded as the app gap narrows, and native ARM64 applications now flourish, core hardware-level limitations remain. The crux of the matter, as clarified by Dell in its recently surfaced support documents, is that this limitation is not a bug in Windows 11, nor a misconfiguration by users. Rather, it is an intrinsic hardware constraint of the current-generation Qualcomm Oryon chipsets found in Dell’s Inspiron 14 5441, Inspiron 14 Plus 7441, Latitude 5455, Latitude 7455, and XPS 13 9345.
Hardware Limitation, Not Software—A Crucial Distinction
It is tempting to blame Microsoft for yet another Windows quirk, but in this case, Dell’s technical documentation and statements leave little doubt: “This is a limitation of the Qualcomm Oryon chipset,” Dell admitted. The practical upshot is clear—regardless of whether you’re running Windows 11 or roll back to Windows 10, you’ll experience the same bottleneck. External monitors connected to ARM-based PCs simply cannot leverage Windows’ native blue light reduction.This hardware-driven limitation renders software or driver updates moot for those hoping for a quick fix. Dell’s position is unequivocal: there are no immediate plans to patch, update, or otherwise extend true Night Light support to current ARM model lines. For end-users, that means any attempts to toggle Night Light on an external display will end in frustration.
Workarounds: The Current Reality
For those who rely on external monitors for productivity, gaming, or creative work, the inability to leverage Night Light on these displays is a non-trivial ergonomic drawback. Blue light, after all, has been linked to sleep disruption and eye strain, making late-night work more taxing than it needs to be.Dell’s support literature does offer an ersatz solution, albeit not a perfect one: users are encouraged to seek out third-party applications—such as Dell’s own Display and Peripheral Manager—or adjust colour presets directly within external monitor menus. The idea is to manually simulate the warmer, eye-friendly hues Night Light aims to deliver.
There is also a swathe of independent blue light filtering tools on the market, ranging from sophisticated software to simple colour temperature adjusters. Tools like f.lux or Iris have long been popular among Windows users for precisely this sort of scenario, providing more granular control than Windows’ own Night Light. However, these utilities come with their own ecosystem fragmentation and, in some cases, compatibility constraints.
The unfortunate reality is that none of these solutions can be considered a truly integrated, first-party answer; they are, by definition, workarounds, requiring additional effort, configuration, and, sometimes, expense, from the user. Those seeking seamless, out-of-the-box support will need to keep waiting.
What Changes with Next-Gen Snapdragon Chips?
A crucial shift is anticipated with the debut of the next wave of ARM SoCs from Qualcomm—most speculated to arrive under the “Snapdragon X Elite 2” banner, codenamed “Project Glymur.” According to Dell, and echoed by industry observers, Night Light support for external monitors is “expected to be available with the next generation of ARM computers.” That marks a rare, public commitment from both a leading PC OEM and the chip provider to closing this persistent gap.While Qualcomm has not yet officially detailed the exact architectural changes, all indicators point to a redesigned display pipeline and driver stack that will enable features like Night Light at the hardware level, irrespective of the display output type. It is widely believed this upgrade will reach market in late 2025 or early the following year, with early announcements potentially coming in the fall.
Additional Upgrades: Performance, Gaming, and Beyond
But Night Light support is only the tip of the iceberg. Sources familiar with Qualcomm’s roadmap suggest that the next-generation Snapdragon chips—often referred to as “Snapdragon X Elite 2” or its gaming-oriented variant—will deliver sweeping improvements across the board. Performance, already competitive with mainstream Intel and AMD CPUs in many workflows, is expected to ratchet up further, making these new ARM chips a viable choice even for demanding tasks such as gaming, creative workloads, and advanced AI applications.Early reviews and user experiences with current Snapdragon X Elite laptops, as articulated by enthusiasts like Devin Arthur, have highlighted unexpectedly strong battery life and performance parity with x86 machines. Next-gen chips are projected to double down on these strengths: higher clock speeds, efficiency gains, improved GPU drivers (potentially with more robust DirectX 12 support), and a broader ecosystem of ARM-native software.
It’s worth noting that ARM’s advantages continue to shine brightest in sustained battery performance, connectivity, and thermals. However, with each new chip iteration, the delta in raw speed, compatibility, and expandability narrows. The prospect of widespread, “app gap”-free ARM machines with all the trimmings is closer than ever.
OEM Strategies: Dell’s Position and the Broader Landscape
Dell’s transparency in acknowledging these limitations (and its intention to wait for new hardware before resolving them) stands in stark contrast to some rivals’ more opaque communications. The company has confirmed it does not intend to add Night Light support for external monitors to its existing ARM models. Instead, customers should anticipate a more robust feature set coming exclusively to forthcoming devices that ship with Qualcomm’s next-gen silicon.Other major players—HP, Lenovo, Asus—will almost certainly follow a similar trajectory. As rival Snapdragon designs hit the market, OEMs are likely to tout across-the-board feature parity with x86 laptops—not just in performance benchmarks, but in those crucial day-to-day experience metrics like display management, co-processor offloading, and AI-accelerated tasks.
The Software and Driver Ecosystem: Why ARM Still Has Gaps
While hardware will pave the way for many advancements, the software plumbing of Windows on ARM remains under continuous construction. Microsoft’s success in closing the app gap is indisputable: popular platforms such as Microsoft 365, Spotify, Chrome, Edge, Zoom, and even many games now offer robust ARM64 support. Nevertheless, nuanced driver and chip-to-OS integration (such as for Night Light, multi-monitor, and HDR support) still lags years behind its x86 forebears.Part of this boils down to the arsenal of legacy display drivers and firmware that legacy Windows PC hardware has grown up with—a collection of tweaks, optimizations, and backwards-compatible features honed over decades. ARM platforms are catching up, but OEMs and chip suppliers like Qualcomm must still climb a steep learning curve.
This is particularly apparent with advanced display technologies. Night Light, HDR, variable refresh rate, hardware-accelerated colour management, and adaptive sync are all areas where ARM-based PCs have showed lagging or inconsistent support compared to their x86 peers. The arrival of next-gen ARM chips provides a crucial opportunity to level this playing field—but true parity will require tight coordination between chip vendors, OEMs, and Microsoft.
Competitive Analysis: ARM vs. x86 External Display Support
| Feature | Intel/AMD x86 PCs (Windows 11) | Snapdragon ARM PCs (Current) | Snapdragon ARM PCs (Next-Gen Est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night Light (built-in) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Night Light (external) | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ (anticipated) |
| Wide HDR Support | ✔ | Partial/✘ | ✔ (expected) |
| Third-party filter support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Driver availability | Full, mature | Partial, improving | Full(er), pending confirmation |
| App compatibility | Mature | Rapidly improving | Near parity (projected) |
End-User Recommendations: What To Do Now
For users currently invested in ARM-based Windows laptops, patience remains the prudent watchword—at least if their workflow depends on robust external monitor support for features like Night Light. Those who can’t wait and depend on these features for eye comfort or health might consider interim solutions:- Use third-party blue light filtering software such as f.lux or Iris, which run at the application level and offer more granular controls.
- Adjust external monitor’s built-in colour presets via on-screen menus, choosing “warm,” “reading,” or “comfort” modes if available.
- Consider hybrid workflows, using the ARM device primarily for on-the-go usage and relying on an x86 desktop or laptop for desk-based, dual-monitor setups with full Night Light support.
- Stay alert for firmware or driver updates, as some display vendors occasionally release bespoke utilities or patches that may improve compatibility.
Risks and Remaining Caveats
There is, however, a critical caveat that should be emphasized: until the new hardware is actually available and independently reviewed, all claims about future support—Night Light or otherwise—remain provisional. Dell’s support documents and industry reporting signal strong intent; Qualcomm’s marketing rhetoric promises leaps in experience. But only hands-on testing at launch will confirm that advertised Night Light and display improvements translate into daily reality for users.Another risk is ecosystem drift: if monitor manufacturers or third-party software providers do not rapidly update their firmware and apps to interface correctly with new ARM display pipelines, a transition period marked by inconsistency and growing pains is very possible. Historically, both OEMs and Microsoft have had mixed records with timing and rollout of such driver-dependent features.
Finally, users should be wary of conflating “Night Light” with more general colour management or blue light reduction. Not all features are created equal, and the precise implementation (and its impact on eye comfort or sleep) can vary widely between hardware, software, and display technologies.
Forward-Looking Verdict
The evolution of ARM on Windows continues to be one of the most interesting stories in personal computing—a saga of incremental improvement, occasional frustration, and mounting excitement. Dell’s acknowledgment that next-generation Snapdragon-powered laptops will close the Night Light external monitor gap is a meaningful signal that the “little” things that matter in everyday life are finally being prioritized alongside performance, security, and app compatibility.While current ARM users must still resort to workarounds for full-spectrum Night Light support, the light—quite literally—at the end of the tunnel appears near. For now, those who depend on this feature should weigh their use case and consider waiting for the hardware refresh, rather than chasing imperfect stopgaps.
With new chips, richer software maturity, and deeper collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and OEMs, the next year is set to deliver ARM-powered Windows laptops that are more universally appealing—and perhaps, finally, unequivocally recommendable for all.
Source: Windows Latest Dell says Windows 11’s next-gen ARM PCs to improve external monitor support
