Another Top VPN Provider Launches on Snapdragon-Based PCs

If you’ve recently purchased a new, high-end laptop, you’ve probably noticed one problem: many of the best VPNs don’t work on them.

The new Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops are some of our favorites to hit the market in a while, combining leading performance with great battery life at a lower price than you might expect.

However, due to ARM’s infrastructure, they don’t yet support every app you can imagine on Windows, including most VPNs. Thankfully, Private Internet Access (PIA) has now launched its native ARM VPN app to bridge the gap.

Why don’t VPNs work on ARM devices?

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Laptops

(Photo source: Future)

Currently, unless there is a native application built for the ARM x86_64 architecture, Windows will “translate” it to the format. This “by eye” method works well for some applications – but not for VPNs, since they are specialized software and often integrate deeply with the operating system.

Many of today’s top providers, such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN, are working on a solution but haven’t finalized their ARM-specific apps. If you have a Windows PC running a Snapdragon X Elite and want to install a VPN, your choices are currently limited to Surfshark, Windscribe, and now PIA.

Private Internet Access on ARM

Private Internet Access is now available in the Microsoft Store for CoPilot+ devices.

Himmat Bains, head of product at Private Internet Access, said: “We are excited to bring PIA functionality to the next generation of Microsoft ARM-based machines. We have worked hard to bring all of PIA’s functionality to this new hardware and are excited that our users can once again enjoy the full power of the PIA platform.”

Since the app is currently in beta, don’t expect everything to work perfectly. “More work will be needed to improve PIA’s functionality as new ARM apps come out,” added Miguel Galindo, senior software engineer at PIA. Fortunately, PIA is a name you can trust, with a verified zero-logging policy and a strong kill switch to prevent data leaks.