The popular open-source 3D creation software Blender has achieved a significant milestone with its latest 4.5 LTS release, bringing fully native ARM support to Windows 11. This development marks a major step forward for the Windows ARM ecosystem, which has struggled to gain the same momentum as Apple's successful transition to ARM processors.
Key Contributors to Blender ARM Port:
- Microsoft: Platform support and development collaboration
- Linaro: Technical development assistance
- Qualcomm: Patron-level funding through Blender Development Fund
- Target hardware: Snapdragon X processors with Adreno GPUs
Performance Improvements Through Native Vulkan Support
The latest Blender release delivers impressive performance gains on Snapdragon X-powered devices through its native Vulkan graphics backend. Users can expect up to 6x improvement in viewport playback and 4.5x better rendering performance compared to previous versions. These improvements specifically target the Adreno GPU architecture found in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips, making professional 3D work much more viable on Windows ARM devices.
To access these performance benefits, users need to manually enable the Vulkan backend through Blender's preferences menu under the System settings. The development team has also announced plans for hardware-accelerated ray tracing support for the Cycles renderer, expected to arrive sometime in 2026.
Blender 4.5 LTS Performance Improvements on Windows ARM:
- Viewport playback: Up to 6x performance improvement
- Rendering performance: Up to 4.5x performance improvement
- Graphics backend: Native Vulkan support for Adreno GPU architecture
- Future feature: Hardware-accelerated ray tracing for Cycles (planned for 2026)
Why Windows ARM Adoption Lags Behind Apple
The community discussion reveals key insights into why Windows ARM adoption has been slower compared to Apple's transition. Unlike Apple's controlled ecosystem where the company could mandate the switch and stop selling Intel-based machines, Microsoft faces a more complex challenge. The Windows ecosystem includes countless hardware manufacturers, each with their own priorities and timelines.
Apple dictates the hardware, and can say no more x86 and devs either have to jump on board or abandon Apple. No such thing with Windows.
Additionally, Apple had several advantages during their transition, including existing ARM expertise from iOS development, superior translation software (Rosetta vs. Prism), and the ability to make their own high-performance ARM chips. Microsoft relies on partners like Qualcomm for processors and various manufacturers for hardware, making coordination much more difficult.
The Broader ARM Transition Challenge
The porting process itself wasn't necessarily the biggest hurdle for Blender, as the software already ran natively on other ARM platforms including macOS and Linux. The main challenges typically involve getting all the required software dependencies to work properly on the new architecture. Many libraries and tools still assume that Windows automatically means x86, requiring additional work to support ARM builds.
The collaboration between Microsoft, Linaro, and Qualcomm that made this Blender port possible demonstrates the industry effort needed to build a complete ARM software ecosystem on Windows. With Qualcomm's support as a Patron-level member of the Blender Development Fund, the project received the resources needed for proper development and testing.
Looking ahead, more applications are gradually adding native Windows ARM support, but the transition remains gradual compared to Apple's rapid shift. For creative professionals using Windows ARM devices, native Blender support represents a significant step toward having the full software toolkit they need for professional work.
Reference: Blender is Native on Windows 11 on Arm