Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite chips are off to a good start and our analysis shows that the ARM SoCs are more efficient than current Intel and AMD chips, both in terms of the CPU as well as GPU tests. In the worst case, these SoCs are tied, which is quite an accomplishment for a completely new chip.
The big issue is that Qualcomm’s marketing was pretty aggressive and that raised high expectation, which are not really met. Yes, the Snapdragon X Elite chips offer more multi-core performance than Apple’s M3, but the Apple-SoC is often cooled passively (like in the MacBook Air) and also has the upper hand in terms of single-core performance as well as efficiency. And the new M4 chip in the iPad Pro is a good indicator for the performance we can expect from the upcoming laptop SoCs.
You will definitely be disappointed if you were expecting passively cooled Snapdragon devices. So far, we have no information about such a device and high power limits have to be cooled, there is just no way around that. The Asus Vivobook S15 OLED is a bit quieter than AMD/Intel based laptops during everyday/light workloads, for example but it is very audible when you stress the processor. Microsoft’s Surface Pro OLED Copilot+ is pretty quiet so far, but it is not cooled passively, either. We are already eager to see how the more powerful chips will behave.
Qualcomm manages to offer competitive products with their first-generation Snapdragon X Elite SoCs. AMD and Intel can usually be beaten in terms of performance and efficiency, but Apple is still ahead.
It is a successful launch from a technical standpoint and Windows runs extremely well on the new ARM processors. However, the new products raise the question whether the Snapdragon chips can become a permanent alternative for AMD and Intel. The additional AI features will be available on laptops with AMD Strix Point and Intel Lunar Lake as well, and there can be compatibility issues, especially when you want to play games. All in all, we are not sure why you should buy a Snapdragon laptop. it obviously depends on the manufacturers as well. Microsoft, for example, only offers the new Surface models (Surface Pro, Surface Laptop) with the ARM chips, so you do not really have a choice when you want such a device. But if you take the Vivobook, for instance, which is also available with AMD/Intel chips, it will mostly depend on the price.
There is also another aspect to consider. AMD’s new Zen5 chips will be available within a couple of weeks and if you believe the rumors/leaks, they will be much faster and more efficient than Zen4. Intel’s Lunar Lake processor should also arrive in a few months, and we also expect new MacBook chips in fall. The M4 in the iPad Pro already impressively shows where the journey is going for the Apple’s laptop SoCs. Qualcomm could quickly fall behind the competition if it takes too much time before the second generation of Snapdragon X chips is launched.
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