Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite platform is designed to revolutionize the landscape of portable PCs, particularly Windows on Arm devices. Unveiled in October 2023, the Snapdragon X Elite is an ARM64 system-on-a-chip (SoC) that integrates a processor (CPU), graphics (GPU), and a neural processing unit (NPU). Qualcomm officially announced Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite as the next-generation premium-tier platforms within the Snapdragon X Series portfolio on September 24, 2025. Devices powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite are expected to be available in the first half of 2026.
Architecture and Key Components
The Snapdragon X Elite features a 4nm architecture. The CPU, called Qualcomm Oryon, has 12 cores optimized for demanding workloads and includes a dual-core boost for responsiveness. The Snapdragon X2 Elite series has a mix of prime cores and performance cores, with 12 prime cores in the Elite Extreme and the top-end Elite, and six in the bottom-tier Elite. All three SKUs have six performance cores. The integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU delivers graphics, while the Qualcomm AI Engine, with its Hexagon NPU, enhances experiences in creativity, video conferencing, security, and productivity. The Snapdragon X Elite also incorporates an updated Micro NPU within the Qualcomm Sensing Hub for enhanced security and privacy features. The Qualcomm Oryon CPUs are based on the Phoenix architecture.
Performance and Efficiency
The Snapdragon X Elite is designed to provide game-changing performance and efficiency, supporting demanding multitasking workloads across productivity, creativity, and entertainment. Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon X Elite delivers up to two times faster CPU performance with significantly lower power consumption. Early benchmarks suggest the chip offers incredible performance and battery life. In multi-threaded tests, the Snapdragon X Elite has shown top results, while the Apple M3 may outperform it in single-threaded tasks. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is built for ultra-premium PCs, tackling agentic AI experiences, computationally intense data analytics, professional media editing, and scientific research. Featuring the best-in-class 3rd Gen Qualcomm Oryon CPU, Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme provides the fastest and most power-efficient performance for Windows: up to 75% faster CPU performance than the competition at ISO power. A new Qualcomm Adreno GPU architecture offers a 2.3X increase in performance per watt and power efficiency over the previous generation.
AI Capabilities
A key focus of the Snapdragon X Elite is its AI capabilities. The chip is capable of running generative AI LLM models with over 13 billion parameters on-device. Its Qualcomm AI Engine with Hexagon NPU provides transformative experiences for various applications. The integrated Hexagon NPU delivers up to 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) of INT8 performance. The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU features 80 TOPS of AI processing—the world's fastest NPU for laptops—to enable concurrent AI experiences in Copilot+ PCs.
Software Compatibility
One challenge with Windows on Arm processors like the Snapdragon X Elite is that most Windows apps aren't built to work directly on Arm systems. Windows uses a translation layer to emulate x86_64 architecture. Apps created for ARM64 can't be read by x64 systems, and vice-versa. For the best performance, it’s important to use apps that are built to run on Arm systems directly. Some software and games designed for the x86 architecture may experience compatibility issues when running on the Snapdragon X Elite. Windows can support most x86 applications through emulation, but some applications, especially software that relies on low-level hardware drivers or architecture-specific optimizations, may not run properly or may have limited performance. Commonly used office software and mainstream browsers usually already support ARM or run well through emulation.
Variants and Availability
Qualcomm has announced several chips in the Snapdragon X Series. The Snapdragon X Elite has three variants, while the Snapdragon X Plus has one. The top chip, the X1E-84-100, goes up to 3.8 GHz on multi-threaded workloads and can hit 4.2 GHz with dual-core boost. The X1E-80-100 goes up to 3.4 GHz and 4.0 GHz, respectively, while the X1E-78-100 also goes up to 3.4 GHz on multi-threaded tasks but doesn't offer dual-core boost. Most laptops equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite chip are expected to ship in mid-2024. Devices powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite are expected to be available 1H26.
Competitive Landscape
The Snapdragon X Elite is designed to compete with Apple's silicon. The ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite promises to elevate Windows laptops to new heights, boasting improved multi-core performance, enhanced AI capabilities, and significantly better power efficiency. The Snapdragon X Elite is Qualcomm's answer to Apple's Arm-based chips. With these advancements, Windows on ARM devices finally have the potential to compete head-to-head with Apple's formidable M3 MacBooks and even challenge the capabilities of the upcoming M4 lineup in certain aspects.
Concerns and Considerations
Despite Qualcomm's promises of flawless compatibility with Windows games, there are performance gaps between Snapdragon X Elite and competing AMD/Intel iGPUs. Some games may not run or may experience compatibility issues. The Adreno graphics in the Snapdragon X Elite offer up a theoretical 4.6 teraflops of FP32 compute. However, it also benefits tremendously from AMD's driver experience and a native x86 architecture that doesn't require emulation.
