Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite series of ARM chips for laptops has been under the spotlight recently. While the chip boasts a 12-core CPU, initial benchmarks and results have painted a mixed picture.
In tasks that utilize multiple cores, the Snapdragon X Elite outperforms Apple’s 8-core CPU M3 chip. However, the M3 chip still reigns supreme in single-core performance, making it faster for many everyday tasks.
In terms of power efficiency, the M3 chip also takes the lead. During performance tests like Cinebench, the M3 chip consumed 10W, compared to the 14W consumed by the X Elite.
Despite these results, it’s important to note that the M3 chip is already a generation behind, with Apple having already released the M4 chip. The M4 chip has shown promising performance in the new iPad Pro, outperforming the Snapdragon X Elite in both single-core and multi-core benchmarks.
While Apple Silicon may still hold the crown, the latest generation of Qualcomm ARM chips for PCs has significantly closed the gap. Since 2020 with the M1, Apple’s laptops have been unassailable on performance and battery life. With the new range of Copilot+ PCs, there is now genuine competition from the Windows laptop world.
Overall, the Snapdragon X Elite series is a commendable effort by Qualcomm, but it still has some catching up to do with Apple’s M3 and M4 chips.
Read more: 9to5mac.com