Not only AMD and Intel, but also Qualcomm unveiled new processors for laptops last week at CES 2025. Respectively, the processor, because it is the cheap lowest model to the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus series, for which only the plain Snapdragon X is left in the designation. It is important because it has the lowest price at which ARM laptops can be bought , will get a bit lower again, which could allow the platform to expand more.
Snapdragon X
The Snapdragon X class will be the cheapest (so far) models (or one model so far) that Qualcomm will offer for laptops, below the most powerful X Elite models (12 cores) and the slightly lower X Plus (10 or 8 cores). Even the Snapdragon X will not be a completely lowend configuration. It still has 8 cores. Perhaps there is also room for another cut-down model with 6 cores that could follow. But it’s not confirmed yet, it’s currently his turn Snapdragon X only one model with code X1–26–100.
This model has eight cores the same Oryon architecture as the more expensive models, which promises fairly good multi-threaded performance. What you’ll be missing out on with the Snaprdagon X is top single-threaded performance. The processor frequency is limited to only 3,0 GHz (more precisely, it should be a clock of 2976 MHz, which is close).
This is the clock for multi-threaded workloads, but also for single-threaded ones, because this model lacks boost. The top-performing Snapdragon X Elite and Plus have boosts of up to 4.0-4.3GHz, so the Snapdragon X X1-26-100 will be missing 25% to 30% of their single-threaded performance. For the record, the Oryon core has a higher performance per 1 MHz (called “IPC”) than current x86 processors, which is something to keep in mind when looking at these relatively low clocks.
The processor should have a 24 MB L2 cache (it is divided into two 12 MB blocks, always connected to one quadruple core) and a 6 MB system cache, which can be accessed by other units outside the CPU cores. In this respect, the architecture is not cut in any way in the cheaper model. This processor appears to be based on the same octa-core “Purwa” silicon as the octa-cores in the more expensive Snapdragon X Plus series (X1P-46-100 and X1P-42-100), released in September.
The equipment corresponds to it. The processor has 128-bit LPDDR5X-8448 memory with a throughput of 135 GB/s, support for NVMe SSD (with PCIe 4.0 ×4 connectivity), support for USB4, support for playing 4K video in AV1 format with support for up to 5K monitors. And the NPU with 45 TOPS performance is also preserved. This processor can also be equipped with a Copilot+ PC notebook, which will officially be capable of AI functions in Windows 11.
Against the higher Snapdragon X Elite and Plus processors, the integrated Adreno GPU is slightly worse, for which Qualcomm states a theoretical performance of 1.7 TFLOPS, while the higher models have 3.8-4.6 TFLOPS (in general, however, this platform is not very suitable for games, because it doesn’t have such good software optimizations and game treatment in graphics drivers, and games may be incompatible due to DRM and anti-cheat modules). This weaker graphics is also shared by previous octa-core Snapdragon X Plus models based on the Purwa chip.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X
This entry-level model will bring down the price of the cheapest ARM notebooks to a level where they can be attractive to a wider range of users. The cheapest ones should start at $599. In our case, this would mean prices from CZK 17,800 including VAT or €717 (with the new 23% Slovak VAT).
$599 laptops, mini desktops on the way
According to Qualcomm, some such models should appear in the coming months. Acer, Asus, HP, Dell and Lenovo are preparing computers with the Snapdragon X processor. Not all models have to be $599 (plus it should be the lowest price possible), of course.
The second interesting thing is that there are already reports that not only laptops, but also light desktop mini PCs could appear on the market with Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors (or perhaps their more expensive variants), so it would be a certain step forward to the desktop segment.
Mini PC from Lenovo with Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor
At least Lenovo is preparing such a PC, it will be computers ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC a IdeaCentre Mini x with a roughly liter chassis. They would be equipped with 16GB of memory and the ability to install up to two NVMe SSDs in M.2 slots, as well as the usual USB, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity, WiFi (6E) and Ethernet. The power supply will be an external 90W source. Even these mini desktops will provide Copilot+ PC functionality.
Resources: Qualcomm, Tom’s Hardware, ComputerBase
Source: www.cnews.cz
