Chrome users on Windows 11 ARM devices, such as those powered by the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus, are experiencing a significant improvement in audio encoding speeds. This enhancement comes after Microsoft addressed a bug in the operating system and collaborated with Google to ensure Chrome’s compatibility. The focus is on Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), an audio compression format allowing for smaller file sizes without sacrificing quality.
Hardware-based AAC support benefits a wide range of users, including those recording audio within Chrome and those streaming content on platforms like YouTube and Spotify.
Resolving the AAC Encoding Issue
The core of the improvement lies in re-enabling Chrome’s hardware-accelerated AAC encoder, known as PlatformAudioEncoder. This encoder offloads AAC encoding tasks to the device’s hardware, improving performance and reducing battery consumption.
The problem stemmed from test failures that led Google to temporarily disable hardware AAC encoding on Windows ARM64 in January 2024. Initially, the issue was suspected to be related to the ARM architecture itself.
After investigation, Microsoft identified that the problem wasn’t ARM64-specific but rather a regression within Windows 11’s Media Foundation. Media Foundation is a crucial component of Windows 11 responsible for audio and video processing.
Microsoft’s audio team addressed the issue and rolled out a fix in Windows 11 builds 22H2 (22621.4112) and 23H2 (22631.4112). Subsequently, Google worked with Microsoft to re-enable the PlatformAudioEncoder for Windows ARM64 on January 29, 2025.
Benefits of the Fix
The re-enabled hardware-accelerated audio encoding means Chrome can now encode audio more efficiently on Windows 11 ARM devices, reducing CPU usage and conserving battery life by correctly utilizing Qualcomm hardware for audio encoding tasks.
This collaboration signifies an enhanced user experience for Snapdragon PC users.