Qualcomm’s long-awaited Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite lineup of chips will power a growing range of laptops, and they could be extremely powerful.
Android Authority reports that the Snapdragon X Plus line will ship with two chip options: the X1P-64 and the X1P-42. The Snapdragon X Elite line will come in three versions: X1E-84, X1E-80 and X1E-78.
As the model numbers suggest, they have different power levels. The X1E-84 offers the most power, followed by the X1E-80 and X1E-78, respectively. According to the benchmark data published in the report, the two Snapdragon X Plus chips will be less powerful than the Elite models.
The chips also come with different specification configurations. All Elite chips offer 4K encoding at 60 fps and 4K decoding at 120 fps. And while the X1P-64 will also offer that option, the lower-powered X1P-42 will offer 4K encoding at 30fps and 4K decoding at 60fps.
Qualcomm has long been a force in the mobile market, powering a host of the most powerful smartphones on the market. However, the company has been slow to enter the computer space, where Intel and AMD have dominated for decades.
However, the new Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips are Qualcomm’s first major foray into the laptop market. Geekbench benchmark data, which Android Authority previously published, shows that the chips should perform quite well in their battle against Intel and Apple chipsets.
Below is a breakdown of the performance of some of the Qualcomm chips in Geekbench 6 tests:
- Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80: 2790 (single thread) and 14309 (multiple thread)
- Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78: 2418 (single thread) and 14077 (multiple thread)
- Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64: 2419 (single thread) and 13139 (multiple thread)
In the meantime, here’s a breakdown of the performance of comparable chips from Intel and Apple in the same Geekbench 6 test:
- Intel Ultra 7 155H: 2300 (single thread) and 13000 (multiple thread)
- Apple M3 Pro: 3200 (single thread) and 16000 (multiple thread)
If those Geekbench 6 scores are accurate, it would bode well for Qualcomm. Performance measures suggest that the chips should at least be able to hold their own against existing technologies and, in some cases, may ultimately outperform Intel and Apple.
In fact, while Apple’s chips outperformed Qualcomm’s chips in video, in AI processing, all three Qualcomm chips easily outperformed Intel and Apple. In several key metrics, including video, Qualcomm’s chips outperformed Intel’s.
Good news for Microsoft?
Needless to say, the stakes are high for Qualcomm and its competitors in the laptop market. And while the company has been willing to share some details about how its chips will work, questions remain about how many PC makers will ultimately turn to Qualcomm for their chip implementations.
Several rumors have suggested that Microsoft could be among the first to partner with Qualcomm on its upcoming Elite and Plus chips when the company unveils its Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 next month. It is widely believed that other companies will follow suit around the same time and later.
That said, neither Qualcomm nor any of its eventual PC partners, including Microsoft, have said exactly when the chips will launch and on which platforms. For now, thanks to the Geekbench leak, we simply know that when the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips launch, many users will like what they see.
- The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 could be joined by a new triple-folding phone
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs Google Pixel Fold 2: Which foldable phone could win?
- The Google Pixel Fold 2 should skip Tensor G3: here’s why
