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But there are a few minor issues over Qualcomms seemingly impressive jump in performance.
For one, it doesnt come out until mid-2024 (possibly in May, were hearing).
Apple MacBooks (late 2023) up against Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Oryon CPU using Geekbench 6.
The results are surprising andtendto favor Qualcomm.
But the story doesnt end there.
Thats not even close.
Qualcomm reference design laptops running its Snapdragon X Elite platform.
Of course, that shouldnt be too surprising.
(That said, Apples GPU will likely be much better than Qualcomms).
Give Qualcomm some credit here.
Qualcomm reference design laptop powering two external monitors.
There, Apple edges out the top-tier Snapdragon X Elite witha single core 3,035 and a multicore of 15,173.
You must give Qualcomm some credit here.
Qualcomm wants you to choose Windows laptops powered by its processor over Intels.
Apple M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max scale in size, cores, and memory.
But heres why Qualcomm is correct in its M2 comparison.
Qualcomm hasnt done that.
Not yet, at least.
Apple M3 series and how they differ.
Currently, it announced just ONE model for the Snapdragon X platform: Elite with 12 performance cores.
(Qualcomm also confirmed this during a Q&A with the press at its Snapdragon Summit).
Suppose we take Qualcomms word that Snapdragon X Elite is a competitor to the Apple M2.
The 12 performance cores of the Snapdragon X Elite platform and Oryon CPU.
Again, I can hear the Apple fans saying, But thats because Qualcomm has more cores!
While true, core count is not the end-all regarding CPU performance.
TheIntel Core i9-13900Khas 24 cores and 32 threads, while AMD’sRyzen 7 7800X3Dhas just 8 cores and 16 threads.
Qualcomm as its Snapdragon Summit claiming its new platform uses 30% less power in single-core tests when matching Apple M2’s peak performance.
Yet, they both go head-to-head in performance.
Core count, while important, is only one criterion for chip performance.
The same is true with Qualcomm versus Apple.
Reference configurations for Snapdragon X Elite benchmarking. Note the device TDP.
Theres a lot more to those chips than just core count.
Game over, right?
Qualcomm quoted those TDP numbers asdeviceTDP, not processor TDP.
gadget TDP isthe total heat dissipation that needs to be consideredwhen designing a cooling solution for that laptop.
Thats right, TDP is not always about direct power draw.
Qualcomm announced just ONE model for the Snapdragon X platform: Elite with 12 performance cores.
It has to scale it up to compete against Apple’s M3 Pro and M3 Max.
Thats just now how this all works.
This is what is neat about the Snapdragon X Elite.
Apple has something similar.
So, you are likely rightly wondering what is the TDP of the processor itself.
We dont know!Qualcomm hasnt shared that information yet.
X Elite is scalable to OEM needs.
Of course, well have to do benchmarks to verify that.
The key takeaway is that dont sleep on Qualcomms claims.
Its Snapdragon X Elite is a groundbreaking start and a leap forward for Windows laptops.
