Native, ARM64EC or emulated: what's the difference?
Windows 11 on ARM runs three kinds of apps. Here's what each one means for speed, battery and compatibility.
Updated Nov 5, 2026 · 4 min readNative ARM64
The app is compiled for ARM processors such as Snapdragon X. This is the fastest and most battery-friendly way to run software, and it's what every listing on this site links to.
ARM64EC
ARM64EC (Emulation Compatible) is a hybrid. The developer's code runs natively, but the app can still load x64 DLLs and plug-ins in the same process, and those parts are emulated. Developers use it to ship a native app without breaking existing plug-in ecosystems. We tag these builds ARM64EC.
Emulated with Prism
Windows 11 includes Prism, which translates x64 and x86 apps to ARM as they run and caches the result. Most everyday apps work well this way. The October 2025 Windows update added support for AVX and AVX2 instructions, so more games and creative tools now run under emulation.
What emulation can't do
- Kernel drivers have to be ARM64. This affects printer and audio-interface drivers, VPN adapters, antivirus engines and some anti-cheat.
- A native app can't load x64 plug-ins unless it's ARM64EC.
- Heavy workloads such as encoding, compiling and local AI run noticeably slower than native.