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All three ads from Qualcomm highlight the performance dip seen on Intel-powered PCs when unplugged. Move over Mac vs PC, a new battle is taking center stage. A series of ads from Qualcomm places the company's Snapdragon X processors squarely against the best from Intel. "Here's a little intel on what's really inside," jabs one of the ads comparing a PC powered by Snapdragon to one powered by an "unnamed" CPU (that's clearly Intel). One ad from Qualcomm focuses on figures, such as the fact that Snapdragon X chips run "at max performance" while Intel chips drop off in performance when unplugged. That claim has merit, though some context is needed. While there are some PCs powered by Intel chips that drop performance to "as little as 55%," it's common to see much smaller dips. That same ad highlights the long battery life of PCs powered by Snapdragon as well. Another ad is more direct in highlighting the 55% performance claim, showing spouses, soldiers, and CEOs only committing 55% effort. The final ad drives home the same point, showing how PCs running at 55% performance when unplugged would affect office producitivy. Best Windows laptops: Is Snapdragon making a push? Microsoft's Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch run on Snapdragon X Plus processors. (Image credit: Microsoft) People have dreamed of powerful and efficient computing for years, and many assumed ARM64 architecture would make those types of devices possible. The dream became a reality with the Snapdragon X series of chips. The Snapdragon X Elite blew previous ARM64 chips away. The Snapdragon X Plus also delivered a nice midrange option that was also far beyond previous offerings. Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden said the following about the Snapdragon X Elite in our ASUS Vivobook S 15 review: "So, does the Snapdragon X Elite live up to the hype? In short, it absolutely does. This chip is a beast, outputting incredible performance that you can feel in almost every task. Whether browsing the web with lots of tabs, multitasking through lots of open apps, rendering video and audio, hosting a podcast, or even some gaming, the Snapdragon X Elite can do it all." For a while, PC manufacturers were hesitant to fully embrace PCs powered by ARM64 processors. But things have changed. The list of the best Windows on Arm laptops now includes devices from Microsoft, Samsung, HP, and ASUS. And of course, those PCs are all powered by Snapdragon chips (though we could see ARM64 CPUs from NVIDIA at some point). Consumer-focused Surface devices, including the newly announced Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch run on Snapdragon chips. Microsoft's flagship computers, the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 also have Snapdragon X chips inside. There are versions of the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 with Intel chips, but those PCs are built for business users. Microsoft has put extensive effort into optimizing Windows 11 for PCs powered by Snapdragon chips. Developers and major corporations have also optimized programs, greatly expanding the library of the best native Windows on Arm apps. Looping back to the ads from Qualcomm, that company's Snapdragon chips are the star of the show here. Any efforts from Microsoft would fall short without chips like the Snapdragon X Elite. Now that Windows PCs powered by Snapdragon chips are in the spotlight, Qualcomm seems eager to show its processors can go toe-to-toe with Intel CPUs. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of April): 1,811 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

A smaller Snapdragon-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop could debut this spring. Microsoft is gearing up to ship two new versions of the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro that have smaller displays, designed to be lighter and more portable for people looking for a more travel-friendly PC. Both devices will be premium products, and feature display sizes roughly around 11- or 12-inches, my sources say. I first reported on Microsoft’s smaller Surface Pro way back in December 2023, and last month I was able to confirm that the company was also working on a smaller Surface Laptop as well. I hear both devices are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. I understand that Microsoft intends to begin shipping these smaller Surface PCs in the April/May timeframe. The company is already expected to unveil new Surface for Business hardware on January 30, but I'm unsure if that's when the smaller devices will be announced, or if they'll be saved for a more consumer-facing event. These smaller Surface devices are said to feature similar premium designs to their larger siblings. My sources say the smaller Surface Pro has been built as a direct competitor to the 11-inch iPad Pro, meaning it should have a high refresh rate display, support for pen input, and its own detachable keyboard accessory. I believe the smaller Surface Laptop is likely to replace the Surface Laptop Go, and will include a backlit keyboard, higher resolution touchscreen, and an all-metal chassis like its larger Surface Laptop sibling. I’m unsure if the smaller Surface Pro is supposed to replace the cheaper Surface Go. The Surface Laptop Go was small, but cut out too many features. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central) I'm told that the new smaller variants will be powered by Snapdragon X/Plus SoCs, which should allow Microsoft to price these devices competitively in the $800-$900 price range while still delivering good performance and battery life. Both devices will be sold alongside the current Snapdragon-powered Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 lineup. Microsoft is also planning to launch Intel Lunar Lake variants of the Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 next month, but these are expected to be for business customers only and just available in the larger existing screen size configurations. The Intel-powered Surface Laptop 7 will be configurable with 5G for the first time. The company's current focus appears to be almost entirely on the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, its two most popular product lines. Microsoft will have refreshed both models three times within the span of 12 months this March, which is a crazy number of updates in such a short period of time. My sources say the Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 are also currently in development and will be powered by the upcoming Snapdragon X2 SoC, which is expected to debut later this year. Microsoft officials declined to comment on these plans. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

With various deals and special offers, Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon processors are already much more affordable than initially. However, Qualcomm wants to lower the price tag even more and bring its chips to devices in the $600 range. Today, the company announced a new Snapdragon chip that is destined to make that possible. The new Snapdragon X1-26-100 (just "Snapdragon X") joins other Snapdragon X Plus and Elite models in the lineup. In a nutshell, it is the same 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processor (X1P-42-100), just with lower clocks—3.0GHz instead of 3.4GHz. GPU, NPU, memory, cache, and cores are the same. By keeping the same NPU, Qualcomm ensures users can have the same AI-powered experience without performance compromises. Also, having the same GPU enables better display output, with the processor being able to power three external 4K 60Hz monitors or two 5K 60Hz/4K 120Hz displays. The chip also supports Wi-Fi 7 and optional 5G, AV1 encoding and decoding, and 4K HDR streaming. Cores Clocks Cache GPU NPU Memory X1P-42-100 8 3.4GHz 30MB 1.7 TFLOPS 45 TOPS LPDDR5x-8448 X1-26-100 8 3.0GHz 30MB 1.7 TFLOPS 45 TOPS LPDDR5x-8448 The first devices with the new Snapdragon X processors will show up at CES 2025. Also, we are finally about to see Qualcomm delivering its promise to expand its ARM chips into other form factors. The company says the first mini PC with Snapdragon X Series chips will be unveiled at CES 2025. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

At its 2024 Investor Day, Qualcomm discussed the significant opportunities for growth and diversification. The PC market is expected to be a significant growth driver for Qualcomm in the years ahead. By 2029, Qualcomm expects that about 30-50% of PCs will be non-x86, and it will generate $4 billion in revenue from its PC chip business. Cristiano Amon, President & CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated, said: During the presentation, Qualcomm also revealed some details from its future roadmap. In late 2023, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon X Elite, its flagship processor for premium Windows PCs that generally cost around $1000. Later in April 2024, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon X Plus processors targeting mid-range Windows PCs, which would cost around $800. Now, Qualcomm has revealed that it is planning to release a new Snapdragon X chip that will target entry-level Windows PCs, which would cost around $600. Overall, Qualcomm's plan is to have a full lineup of chips targeting every segment in the PC market. By 2026, Qualcomm's lineup will be able to address 70% of the Windows laptop market. As per their current projections, over 100+ laptops based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X lineup will be in the market by 2026. To highlight the performance-per-watt leadership of Snapdragon, Qualcomm pointed out that even the latest x86 chips from Intel and AMD, which were released this year, failed to beat Snapdragon X Elite, which was announced back in 2023. Also, even by using TSMC's latest 3nm process technology, Intel has failed to beat the Snapdragon X series in performance and power efficiency. The upcoming 3rd gen Oryon CPU, which will power the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 chipset, is expected to deliver a generational leap in performance and efficiency. Qualcomm is expected to announce Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 in 2025, and Windows PCs based on it will be shipping in the following months. Qualcomm's aggressive push into the PC market could pose a serious challenge to Intel and AMD. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

It makes sense for Qualcomm to offer something more powerful than the X Elite. Quick answer: There is no official confirmation that Qualcomm will create additional Snapdragon X SoCs beyond what has already been announced for the platform. However, with the announcement of the more affordable Snapdragon X Plus, another, more powerful platform beyond the Snapdragon X Elite is not entirely ruled out. An Oryon CPU with over 12 cores and higher clock speeds would help Qualcomm compete with Apple's M-series ARM chips. A quick look at the Snapdragon X platform A Snapdragon X Elite benchmarked in Cinebench 2024. (Image credit: Future) Qualcomm's Snapdragon X platform is a series of Systems-on-Chip (SoC) that is expected to significantly shake up the Windows on Arm landscape. The company has announced two platforms—the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus—with a total of four chips between them. The more powerful Snapdragon X Elite was first introduced in October 2023, while the more affordable Snapdragon X Plus was unveiled on April 24, 2024. The X Plus announcement clarified the X Elite's chip layout; Qualcomm has three different SKUs for the X Elite, which I discuss below. The Snapdragon X Plus platform has one chip. These SoCs consist of an ARM64 Oryon processor (CPU), Adreno integrated graphics (GPU), and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for AI acceleration. All SoCs offer 5G and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, support for three concurrent 4K displays at a 60Hz refresh rate, USB4 connectivity (Intel's Thunderbolt understandably won't be included), and AV1 decoding and encoding for 4K HDR video. The SoCs also contain a "Micro NPU" for always-enabled human presence detection. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite vs. X Plus The Snapdragon X Plus is a more affordable alternative to the X Elite. (Image credit: Qualcomm) The Snapdragon X Elite platform contains three different chips (aka SKUs), each with a 12-core CPU, 42MB cache, and 45 TOPS NPU. The most powerful X1E-84-100 chip has a multithread 3.8GHz clock speed and 4.2GHz dual-core boost clock, as well as a GPU with 4.6 TFLOPs of performance. Next in line is the X Elite (X1E-80-100), which has a 3.4GHz multithread clock, 4.0GHz dual-core boost clock, and 3.8 TFLOPs GPU. Finally, the X Elite (X1E-78-100) is nearly identical to the X1E-80-100, except it lacks dual-core boost ability. Here's a closer look at the breakdown between these CPUs. Platform ID CPU Cores CPU Cache CPU Multithread Frequency CPU Dual-Core Boost Frequency GPU TFLOPs NPU TOPS Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 12 42MB 3.8GHz 4.2GHz 4.6 45 Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 12 42MB 3.4GHz 4.0GHz 3.8 45 Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 12 42MB 3.4GHz N/A 3.8 45 Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 10 42MB 3.4GHz N/A 3.8 45 The Snapdragon X Plus (X1P-64-100) has 10 CPU cores, a 42MB cache, and a 3.4GHz multithread frequency. It also lacks dual-core boost abilities, and its GPU hits 3.8 TFLOPs. Qualcomm hasn't listed any TDPs for its new chips, but based on performance specs, it's safe to assume that the X Plus will draw the least amount of power while the X Elite (X1E-84-100) will draw the most. (Perhaps more importantly, they all draw up to 50% less power than anything from Intel or AMD, although how efficient they are against Apple remains to be seen). Qualcomm Snapdragon X vs. Apple M Apple M3 vs. Snapdragon X Elite (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Bing Image Creator) Apple offers several performance tiers for its M-series chips using the ARM architecture. The M1 was launched in 2020, followed by the M1 Pro and M1 Max about a year later. About five months after that came the M1 Ultra. The M2 launched in mid-2022, with the M2 Pro and M2 Max coming at the start of 2023. It took Apple about six months to launch the M2 Ultra used in desktops. We're now at the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, announced in October 2023. According to Apple's previous release schedules, an M3 Ultra will likely be announced soon. Looking at the current range of M3 chips, Apple offers its CPUs between 8 and 16 cores, split into performance and efficiency cores designed for different tasks. The split big.LITTLE architecture, created by Arm over a decade ago, has not made it into Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips. Qualcomm believes that its Oryon CPU cores are all plenty efficient, and instead, it adds boost capabilities to two of its cores in the two top X Elite SKUs. Apple MacBooks (late 2023) up against Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and Oryon CPU using Geekbench 6. (Image credit: Future) Qualcomm hasn't been shy about showing off its Snapdragon X performance metrics compared to Apple's M-series SoCs. Performance claims by the company making the chips should always be approached warily, but it looks promising so far. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon suggested at a 2023 Snapdragon Summit that the X Elite (X1E-84-100) is faster and 30% more efficient in single-threaded situations than Apple's M2 Max. Apple has since moved on to M3 hardware, but again, it looks like the X Elite can best the M3 and keep up with the M3 Pro in Geekbench 6 multi-core performance. We'll have to test this ourselves when we get our hands on some of the new Windows on Arm laptops, which are expected later this year. The possibility of a third Snapdragon X SoC Qualcomm is showing off its first-gen Snapdragon X chips as powerful and efficient alternatives to Apple, Intel, and AMD hardware. These preliminary performance comparisons do, however, leave a high-end performance gap where Apple still reigns. The M3 Max, available with 14 or 16 cores, is still the most powerful ARM CPU for laptops today. And that's before the expected M3 Ultra for desktops makes its debut. The M2 Ultra has 24 cores, and with Apple feeling the competitive heat from Qualcomm, it might go all-out with the M3 Ultra. Qualcomm clearly isn't going to sit back and rest on its X Elite platform. The X Plus has already been announced as a more affordable option for OEMs to use on more budget-friendly laptops. The "Plus" moniker suggests that we could see something even more basic in the future, but that also works the other way, So what's stopping Qualcomm from creating a third Snapdragon X platform with superior performance compared to the X Elite SoCs? Qualcomm is clearly aiming to topple Apple's ARM CPU dominance, and it will need an SoC with enough performance to keep up with (or best) the M3 Max and whatever Apple is cooking up for its fourth-gen M4 chips. As AI PCs continue to gain popularity, stronger NPUs will also be required to keep up with the performance demands of localized AI acceleration. We are calling Qualcomm's next platform "Snapdragon X Ultra" or "Snapdragon X Extreme" based on speculation; no matter what it's called, it will need more cores (including boost cores) and higher frequencies to compete with Apple's top silicon. Source

Later this year, the first Windows 11 PCs with new Snapdragon X processors will hit the market. While we already know a lot about the platform to power Microsoft's new "AI PCs," Qualcomm appears to be preparing even more. According to a new report from Android Authority, the company wants to release one more Snapdragon X Plus SKU and even server variants of its new processors. As of right now, Qualcomm officially unveiled four Snapdragon X processors: three X1 Elite SKUs and one X1 Plus. However, there should be one more X1 Plus variant with eight Oryon cores, fewer PCIe Gen 4 lanes, and less powerful graphics. The SKU in question is X1P-42-100. Interestingly, Qualcomm is aiming at not just regular PCs, like the upcoming Surface Pro 10. The company reportedly works on server chips with Oryon cores. The "SD1" chip allegedly features the following specs: According to the report, Qualcomm briefed its partners about its new server chip somewhere in late 2021 or early 2022. The SD1 could be Qualcomm's second attempt at server chips after the canceled Centriq in 2017. Qualcomm has already provided the first benchmarks of its new Snapdragon X Elite and Plus processors. They look on par with the modern competition, which backs the recent report about Microsoft being confident in its AI PCs being capable of outperforming Apple's M3-based MacBook Air. Of course, real-world tests and benchmarks will have to wait for the first devices to hit the market, which should happen somewhere in mid-2024. Microsoft, for example, plans to unveil the ARM-powered Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on May 20, 2024. Source

Same NPU, same architecture as X Elite, but fewer cores and lower clock speeds. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series of chips promises to be the company’s first that can go toe-to-toe with Apple Silicon, and the PC ecosystem is reacting accordingly. Microsoft reportedly plans for the Arm version of its next Surface tablet to be the flagship, and major apps like Chrome and Dropbox have recently released Arm-native Windows versions for the first time. Ahead of the chips' launch late this year, Qualcomm announced a new lower-end model destined for cheaper devices. Dubbed the Snapdragon X Plus, it shares a lot in common with the flagship Snapdragon X Elite. The Snapdragon X Plus includes 10 CPU cores instead of the Elite’s 12, though the more noticeable change is its lack of support for clock-speed boosting; the chip’s 3.4 GHz base frequency is as fast as it goes, where the Elite chips can boost two cores to 4.2 GHz and one core up to 4.3 GHz, depending on the specific model. Qualcomm also rates the X Plus’ integrated GPU at 3.8 TFLOPs, down from the X Elite’s maximum of 4.6 TFLOPs. Aside from those high-level FLOP numbers, we still know very little about how the GPU will be configured; we also don’t know the ratio of “big” and “little” CPU cores. Qualcomm says the Snapdragon X Plus’ multi-threaded performance still compares favorably to Apple’s M3, outrunning it by about 10 percent; Qualcomm doesn’t provide any single-core scores, which are presumably less flattering. The company also says it outruns Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H and AMD's Ryzen 9 7940HS chips in multi-core performance when the chips are using the same power, or it can match those x86 chips' performance while using 65 percent less power. All Snapdragon X chips share the same basic Oryon CPU architecture, developed by the former Apple Silicon engineers that Qualcomm acquired when it bought a company called Nuvia in 2021. The Elite and Plus chips also use the same 4nm manufacturing process and the exact same neural processing unit (NPU). This ensures that both chips will meet Microsoft’s rumored requirements for “AI PCs,” a list of specs that also includes 16GB of RAM and (for some reason) the dedicated Copilot key. The X Elite and X Plus chips all support up to 64GB of LPDDR5X memory. It’s not clear what “AI PCs” will be able to do that regular non-AI PCs can’t, but it’s likely that they’ll be able to run some version of the Copilot generative AI assistant locally on-device. Testers have also found an AI-focused revamp of Windows Explorer in recent testing builds. Microsoft recently released Phi-3-mini, a smaller language model that claims to be able to match GPT 3.5’s performance using 3.8 billion parameters instead of 175 billion. This would be well-suited to on-device processing—fewer parameters means lower system requirements, faster performance, and a smaller footprint on disk. Source

During Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit, the company held a benchmarking session for reporters to prove it does what it says. What you need to know Qualcomm recently announced its Snapdragon X Elite platform built on the Oryon processor with 12 cores, peaking up to 4.3GHz, while using 1/3 the power of Intel’s current best laptop CPU. During the Snapdragon Summit, a live benchmarking session on two differently configured reference design laptops demonstrated how powerful the chips are. The Snapdragon X Elite at 80w (peak) easily beats the Apple MacBook Pro 13” with an M2 processor and Razer’s Blade 15 (2023). The Snapdragon X Elite will be featured in Windows laptops starting mid-2024. Qualcomm caused quite a stir last week with its long-awaited announcement of its Snapdragon X Elite platform based on its new Oryon CPU, creating what some are calling the "Apple Mac Moment" for Windows. That CPU is built by the same engineers who designed Apple’s A-series processors, which later scaled up to the M-series found in its laptops. So, perhaps it is no surprise that Oryon can beat Apple (at least where they are today). During Qualcomm’s keynote, the company went on stage with some fancy graphs and a few handpicked benchmarks, putting it up against Intel’s best 13th-generation Core laptop CPUs and Apple’s M2 (and even M2 Max in one scenario). Of course, some questioned the numbers and claims, as even Qualcomm admitted it overachieved when it came to its original goals with Oryon. Well, Qualcomm wasn’t lying. In a special benchmarking session for reporters, the company walked the press through all the benchmarks, expectations (ranges), and the exact configurations of the two reference-designed laptops used. More importantly, when we turned around, there were well over 20 Oryon-powered laptops with Geekbench 6, Cinebench 24, PCMark 10, Procyon AI, and 3Dmark WildLife Extreme and Aztec Ruins (pre-commercial builds). While the press couldn’t mess with the software, OS, and laptops, the benchmarking software was running live with as many multiple rounds as we wanted to witness. Reporters could also talk to the engineers while the benchmarks were running to ask any questions. Snapdragon X Elite: Test configurations (Image credit: Future) One key point that needs to be made about Snapdragon X Elite is while it is one platform with the Oryon processor, PC OEMs can configure the chip however they want. That means, unlike Intel and AMD, who have multiple SKUs for their mobile chips, e.g., Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 along with U-, P-, H-, and HX-series, Qualcomm only has one SKU: Snapdragon X Elite. But, similar to Apple, that platform can range from low TDP (thermal design power; basically, how much wattage the chip draws) to very high, with or without fans. To demonstrate this range (and not skew towards only the max configuration to tip the scales), Qualcomm had two configurations for benchmarking: The two laptop configurations running Snadragon X Elite and Oryon CPU. (Image credit: Future) Configuration A: 80W max with fan. Single thread: 4.3GHz, Multithread: 3.8GHz Configuration B: 23W with fan. Single thread: 4.0GHz, Multithread: 3.4GHz Although configuration B did have a fan, the engineers told me at that TDP, it does not need one. Indeed, during the benchmarks, you never heard it come on. For configuration A, with a max TDP of 80 watts, the fan kicked in and was audible during peak performance. This range of TDP configurations means a laptop maker can make something like a Surface Pro with no fan but still exceptional performance or go all-out with a 15” laptop huge battery, and push the TDP to the max, giving the most performance possible. But make no mistake: Every Snapdragon X Elite laptop will perform slightly differently, and not all will hit those super-high benchmarks. Even so, as you’ll see next, the 23-watt configuration is still off-the-wall powerful compared to everything on the market in 2023. Snapdragon X Elite: Benchmarks and results Snapdragon X Elite running Geekbench 6. (Image credit: Future) Qualcomm reposted its earlier slide during the presentation, but it also handed out a sheet with all the expected ranges on the benchmarks, which you rarely see. Each time you run a benchmark, the score fluctuates depending on external and internal thermal conditions or any Windows background processes that may temporarily be active. So, while the highs here are 100% accurate, the lower end is also something users (and reviewers) may see later in 2024 when we run our own benchmarks. The results are astounding and the real deal. On PCMark 10, the results are literally off the chart compared to anything we’ve benchmarked during our laptop reviews. Both configurations hit over 13,000 on the score, whereas the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR with the brand-new AMD R9 7945HX3D, the most powerful Windows laptop we’ve tested, could only muster 9,000. Even the MSI Titan GT77, with Intel’s previous best processor, the Core i9-12900HX, could only muster 8,555. PCMark 10 reveals the Snapdragon X Elite to be the fastest system around.(Image credit: Future) 3DMark WildLife test the iGPU and shows Qualcomm knows what it is doing.(Image credit: Future) Aztec Ruins is another iGPU test where Snapdragon X Elite is strong.(Image credit: Future) On Cinebench 2024, Snapdragon X Elite and Oryon really shine.(Image credit: Future) While not the fastest on Geekbench 6, Oryon is much more efficient at 1/3 the power draw.(Image credit: Future) On 3Dmark WildLife Extreme, which tests the integrated GPU, the max configuration Snapdragon X Elite (44.5) easily beats Apple’s M2 (40.8). The 23W config B, however, still came very close with 38.5. On the more familiar and widely used Geekbench 6, both configurations easily beat Razer’s Blade 14 (2023) powered by the AMD R9 7940HS. The MacBook Pro 13” with M2 processor came last (compared to our best gaming laptops) with 2,658 single-thread and 10,088 multi-thread. By comparison, Qualcomm pulled off 2,940 ST, 15,130 MT, 2,780 ST, and 14,000 MT at its lower TDP configuration. Even if you factor in the lowest scores/benchmark runs of the Snapdragon X Elite, it still trounces the M2. Snapdragon X Elite laptops running Cinebench 2024 in real-time. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino) Cinebench 2024, which replaces Cinebench R23, hasn’t been used a lot by us yet as it’s brand new, but the new version, which is compiled to run ARM natively, still shows the Snapdragon X Elite way ahead of the competition with 132 ST and 1,220 MT for Config A. The MacBook Pro with M2 could only muster 121 ST and 572 MT and was still easily beaten by the Config B model with 122 ST and 950 MT. Likewise, the Config A beat the Razer Blade 15 (2023) and ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023), some of the most powerful gaming PCs available. Snapdragon X Elite's NPU is very powerful. (Image credit: Future) Other tests include UL Procyon AI, which, as the name implies, benchmarks the laptop’s AI capability. This is not a test we currently run internally here, but we’ll start incorporating more as neural processing units (NPUs) become a thing in Windows PCs heading into 2024. Regardless, since the NPU was being tested and it doesn’t vary on TDP, both Config A and Config B range from 1,750 to 1,800 on that test, which will be far ahead of everyone else at 10x the performance. Snapdragon X Elite benchmarks: All that AND less power (Image credit: Qualcomm) The critical thing to remember during all these benchmarks is that Qualcomm matches or beats the competition (as of today) at all these CPU and GPU tests, but at less power than the others, sometimes up to 70% less power than Apple or Intel. Even against the M2 Max from Apple, which will beat the Snapdragon X Elite on most benchmarks (except single-thread), the Snapdragon X Elite still consumes 30% less power when matching Apple's single-threaded peak performance. Snapdragon X Elite benchmarks: Apple M3 and Intel Meteor Lake (Image credit: Windows Central) It is worth noting that by the time Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite hits store shelves, Apple’s M3 line of CPUs (which are expected to be announced this week) and Intel’s next-gen Meteor Lake laptops processors with its beefy NPU and GPU, will be the new competition. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if Apple can beat its M2 with a 50% increase in performance while reducing power consumption by 30%. That’s a tall order, although not impossible. Most generation jumps in CPUs are happy to get 20% processor improvements with the same or slightly less power consumption. And even if Apple gets that 50%/30% ratio, that only matches what Qualcomm is getting on its Gen 1 product. - Here are the 9 PC makers supporting Qualcomm’s game-changing Snapdragon X Elite But the real competition for Qualcomm here will be Intel and AMD, as most people buying laptops already know if they want Apple or Windows. While Intel and AMD are likely to show significant gains in 2024 for power and efficiency, Qualcomm, for now, appears to be walking away with the new crown of fastest and most efficient processors for Windows laptops. Finally, I should point out that Oryon and X Elite are not due until mid-2024. That means Qualcomm has around 8 months to optimize the SoC and drivers, which suggests all these numbers could go up. Indeed, I'm willing to bet Qualcomm says as much when these laptops start coming to market. 2024 will be very exciting for mobile computing even before NVIDIA and AMD reportedly join the world of Windows ARM laptops starting in 2025. Source

Earlier this week, Qualcomm officially announced the first hardware details of the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite, the first version of its new Snapdragon X series of PC CPUs. Now the company has confirmed at least nine PC makers who will put the Snapdragon X Elite in upcoming Windows notebooks. The list was revealed on the second day of the 2023 Qualcomm Summit, which was livestreamed on Wednesday. Near the end of the presentation, a slide was shown with the PC makers that will include the Snapdragon X Elite CPUs. Microsoft is among those companies that will include the new Arm-based processor in one or more future versions of its Surface laptop and tablet PCs. The company previously included Arm-based CPUs in its Surface Pro 9 5G and Surface Pro X tablets. The other PC OEMs that will join Microsoft in adding Snapdragon X Elite chips inside some of their upcoming laptops or tablets are Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, HONOR, Lenovo, Samsung, and Xiaomi. These companies represent most of the major PC makers and would seem to ensure that Qualcomm's new CPU will be available from a wide variety of companies. The Snapdragon X Elite CPUs will include 12 high-performance cores and a maximum clock speed of 3.8GHz. It also claims that one or two of those cores can go even faster at up to 4.3GHz. Qualcomm has shown charts that claim its new CPU will offer up to twice the performance of Intel's i7-1360P and i7-1355U chips at its maximum power, and match their performance while using 68 percent less power. The new chip will also include an integrated Adreno GPU and an AI-themed neural processing unit, along with a 5G modem and Wi-Fi 7 hardware. The first PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite are scheduled to start shipping sometime in mid-2024. Source

Prism layer is one of several under-the-hood overhauls in Windows 11 24H2. Microsoft is going all-in on Arm-powered Windows PCs today with the introduction of a Snapdragon X Elite-powered Surface Pro convertible and Surface Laptop, and there are inevitable comparisons to draw with another big company that recently shifted from Intel’s processors to Arm-based designs: Apple. A huge part of the Apple Silicon transition’s success was Rosetta 2, a translation layer that makes it relatively seamless to run most Intel Mac apps on an Apple Silicon Mac with no extra effort required from the user or the app’s developer. Windows 11 has similar translation capabilities, and with the Windows 11 24H2 update, that app translation technology is getting a name: Prism. Microsoft says that Prism isn’t just a new name for the same old translation technology. Translated apps should run between 10 and 20 percent faster on the same Arm hardware after installing the Windows 11 24H2 update, offering some trickle-down benefits that users of the handful of Arm-based Windows 11 PCs should notice even if they don’t shell out for new hardware. The company says that Prism's performance should be similar to Rosetta's, though obviously this depends on the speed of the hardware you're running it on. Microsoft also claims that Prism will further improve the translation layer’s compatibility with x86 apps, though the company didn’t get into detail about the exact changes it had made on this front. Emulated x86 apps are a useful stopgap solution, but to take full advantage of Arm chips, developers will need to ship native apps. Luckily for Microsoft, this has become more common in the last couple of years. Google Chrome is finally shipping a native Arm version, as is Dropbox. Adobe also announced today that Illustrator and Premiere Pro would be joining its slate of Arm-native apps later this summer, joining the already-native Photoshop, Lightroom, Firefly, and Express apps. Essentially all of the major PC OEMs plan to join Microsoft in shipping Arm-based PCs in the next few months, partly because Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips are the only ones with neural processing units (NPUs) fast enough to support Windows 11's new on-device AI features. Dubbed "Copilot+ PCs," the new devices are trying to make Windows-on-Arm happen after more than a decade of failures and at-best-muted successes. Source You're welcome.

The next-generation Surface Laptop with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors inside is finally here. Microsoft unveiled its next-gen laptop at the special May 20 event, promising that the device "isn't even close" in terms of performance when compared to the previous generations. The new Surface Laptop (yep, just "Surface Laptop" or "Copilot Plus Surface Laptop") is available in two sizes: 13.8-inch and 15-inch. Both variants use 3:4 IPS touchscreen displays with a resolution of 2,304 x 1,536 pixels and 2,496 x 1,664 pixels. The refresh rate has been bumped to 120Hz, plus the Surface Laptop now supports HDR. And yes, screen corners are now rounded to match Windows 11's aesthetics. Powered by Qualcomm's latest chips, the Surface Laptop is 86% faster than the Intel-powered Surface Laptop 5. You will be able to spec the 13.8-inch variant with either the Snapdragon X Elite or Plus, while the larger variant will only be available with the Snapdragon X Elite. Memory-wise, you get to choose from 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM. Other "Copilot Plus PCs" will also come with a minimum of 16GB—that is a new baseline. Besides boosting performance, the new processors significantly improve battery life. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop can play video for up to 20 hours, while the 15-inch variant can last up to 22 hours. As for ports, you get two USB-C/USB4 ports that can charge your Surface Laptop, transfer data, power external displays (up to three 4K displays), and connect accessories. There is also one USB-A 3.1 port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the good old Surface Connect port. The 15-inch variant also has a microSDXC card reader. Other changes in the new Surface Laptop include a haptic trackpad, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support, a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello and Windows Studio effects, two Dolby Atmos speakers, and Studio microphones with voice focus. The new Surface Laptop is now available for preorder in the Microsoft Store. The 13.8-inch variant starts at $999 and tops at $2,399. The larger model starts at $1,299 and goes all the way up to $2,499. Color options include Sapphire (blue), Dune (gold), Platinum, and Black. Source

Acer has announced its first notebook with Qualcomm's brand-new Snapdragon X processors. It's called the Acer Swift 14 AI, and it will be sold in a number of different hardware configurations. This is one of the new Copilot Plus PC notebooks that Microsoft branded earlier today. The Acer Swift 14 AI will be available to buy with both the high-end 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor and the less powerful and more affordable 10-core Snapdragon X Plus chip. The laptop will feature up to 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 RAM and up to 1TB of NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The 3.7-pound (1.68 kg) notebook will come with a 14.5-inch WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and it will have 100% sRGB color support. The laptop will also have a touchscreen display option as well. The Acer Swift 14 AI will have a 180-degree hinge for its display, so the notebook can be placed on a table almost completely flat. The thin and light laptop will include an AI icon that will be stamped on the cover of the notebook. There will also be an Activity Indicator on the touchpad that will light up when Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant is activated. Other hardware features for the Acer Swift 14 AI include a 1440p QHD IR webcam that comes with a triple microphone array and Windows Hello support, along with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless hardware. There will also be two USB-C ports and two more USB-A ports. The notebook will have a 75 Wh battery, which Acer says should last up to 12 hours on a single charge. You won't have to wait long to get the Acer Swift 14 AI notebook. It will first launch in Europe sometime in June with a starting price of €1,499. In July, it will go on sale in the US, beginning at $1,099. Source

Qualcomm has quietly introduced a new SKU to its Snapdragon X processor family, which should lower the cost of Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11. As of right now, the cheapest computers with Snapdragon X chips start at $999 (some of them are already discounted), which is still too high for many customers. Qualcomm recently promised to lower the cost of PCs with its processors, and the new version of Snapdragon X Plus should help with that. The new entry-level Snapdragon X Plus debuted under the "X1P-42-100" moniker. It is the first eight-core processor in the lineup, which also means it has less cache and lower clocks. Single-core clocks are the same as in the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100, but the maximum multithreaded frequencies are lower by 200 MHz. The built-in graphics is another area where the X1P-42-100 cuts corners. According to an SKU comparison table from Qualcomm (via VideoCardz), the new X1P-42-100 outputs 1.7 TFLOPS while its 10-core sibling generates over two times more—3.8 TFLOPS. This difference will directly translate to notably lower performance in graphics-intensive tasks, so do not expect this processor to handle the latest PC games very well. As for the NPU, it has the same 45 TOPS as all the other chips in the lineup. Memory support is also the same—LPDDR5X at 8,448 MT/S. Here is a brief spec comparison: Cores Cache Clocks GPU NPU Memory Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 12 42 MB 3.4GHz 3.8 TFLOPS 45 TOPS LPDDR5X 8448 MT/S Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 10 Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 8 30MB 1.7 TFLOPS So far, only ASUS has two models with the new Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor, but more models should follow suit. Qualcomm certainly feels pressure from Intel and AMD with their upcoming AI-capable chips, so you can expect the current generation of Windows on ARM computers to become more affordable. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts