Qualcomm’s ambitious Snapdragon X laptop push has fallen short, with only 720,000 units sold globally in Q3 2024, representing less than 1% of the AI PC market. Despite sequential growth, the platform remains a niche player, facing stiff competition from x86 chipmakers.
The rise of Snapdragon X chipsets in laptops is ushering in a new era of powerful and efficient Windows machines. From Microsoft’s Surface Pro 11 to the HP OmniBook X, these laptops offer impressive performance, long battery life, and sleek designs, challenging the MacBook Air M3 in the process.
While Microsoft’s push for Windows on Arm has been successful, a major hurdle remains: the lack of Adobe Premiere Pro support on Snapdragon X chips. While other Adobe apps like Photoshop and Lightroom have been ported, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder are still unavailable. Despite Adobe’s commitment to supporting Arm, the expected July release has been missed, leaving video editors on Arm PCs in the lurch. However, progress is being made with beta versions of Illustrator and InDesign now available on Arm, indicating Adobe’s dedication to completing its full app lineup for Snapdragon X chips.
The Surface Laptop 7th Edition finally addresses the performance and battery life issues that plagued previous models, thanks to the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip. With improved design, a great display, and a competitive price, it’s a compelling alternative to the MacBook Air.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips are powering the first Copilot+ laptops, but early reviews have been mixed. A new leak suggests that Qualcomm may have more chips in the works, including three new Plus models that could improve performance. While the specs remain unknown, these new chips could offer a more competitive alternative to AMD and Intel processors.
Intel faces intensifying competition from Qualcomm and AMD in the laptop market, prompting the company to release its upcoming Lunar Lake chips ahead of schedule. While Intel showcased the Asus Zenbook S 14 as a glimpse into the future of Lunar Lake laptops, the industry’s attention remains focused on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips, which offer advancements in neural processing units (NPUs) and compatibility with Microsoft’s Copilot+ platform. Despite the competitive landscape, Intel remains a significant player with its strong brand recognition and the support of major laptop manufacturers.
Qualcomm is pushing the boundaries of AI performance with its latest Snapdragon X chips, promising on-device AI capabilities that have yet to be fully realized by competitors. The Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips are designed to outperform Intel’s x86 chips in terms of AI performance, while consuming less power. The chips feature advanced NPUs, which enable faster processing of AI tasks, such as image and video analysis, natural language processing, and real-time object detection. Qualcomm’s Geekbench 6 benchmarks show promising results, with the Snapdragon X Plus performing 37% faster and 54% more efficiently than Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H chip, which is commonly found in many laptops. Additionally, the chips support up to a 4K HDR webcam and WiFi 7 compatibility, making them suitable for a wide range of applications. While the AI performance of the Snapdragon X chips is impressive, it remains to be seen whether app developers and software companies will take advantage of these capabilities. Qualcomm hopes that the Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips will power a new generation of AI-powered PCs, offering consumers a better and more efficient computing experience.
