Win 11 and processor compatibility

<p>The TPM chip has to be attached directly to the motherboard in order to work. It is a loose equivalent to the secure enclave on Apple products. It is there to ensure the hardware hasn’t been fiddled with and stores key information in encrypted form.</p><p><br></p><p>Whilst it would be possible to physically put a TPM chip in a USB device, it wouldn’t work, because it has to be directly accessible by the processor. The USB stick has to go over the USB port and over the USB controller chip or circuity. That is two layers of broken trust, so whatever the TPM chip says, can’t be relied on.</p><p><br></p><p>Additionally, it needs to be accessible directly during the boot process, before the OS and before device drivers are loaded – later, after the operating system has been checked and proven safe, by comparing it to the encrypted information in the TPM chip, the OS can be booted and the chip will then also be available to the OS.</p><p><br></p><p>But it is the critical pre-boot period, where the TPM is critical. Also, as a USB device, it would be easy to lose or get stolen and, without it the PC cannot be booted, it is a permanent feature of the motherboard from its first use on.</p>