Qualcomm's recently revealed Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip is a technological marvel, but it still fails to beat its ARM rival, Apple's M4 Max laptop SoC.
Qualcomm Still Has Hefty Competition In The ARM Segment, But It Has Managed To Dominate x86 Offerings
The San Diego chipmaker entered the laptop segment last year with its Snapdragon X1 CPUs, which were a massive release back then. This was mainly because they were one of the most competitive options out there, featuring the ARM architecture. Apart from Apple's M-series chips, ARM had no option to compete in the Windows segment, but Qualcomm ultimately bridged the gap. With the newer Snapdragon X2 chips, Qualcomm has brought in new performance levels relative to the x86 alternatives, but with the M-series SoCs, the firm is still behind.
In a reference laptop showcased by Qualcomm featuring the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip, it is revealed that the SoC manages to achieve a single-thread score of 162 points and a multi-thread score of 1,968 points at Cinebench 2024. Now, compared to Apple's M4 Max chip, Qualcomm falls short by 9.5% in the single-thread benchmark, and a minor 2.8% in multi-thread, which shows that the chip cannot be claimed as the 'leader' in the ARM segment.
However, the difference in performance is relatively much smaller, which is highly impressive for Qualcomm, considering that the X2 Elite Extreme is just the second iteration of the company's laptop chips. But, looking at the performance relative to x86, it won't be wrong to say that the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme has 'whitewashed' the counterparts entirely.
vs. AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (via Jarrod's Tech)
- ST: ~34% average lead
- MT: ~55% average lead
vs. Intel Core Ultra 9 288V (via CPU Monkey)
- ST: ~31% average lead
- MT: ~234% average lead
Would it be right to say ARM has a clear lead over x86 in the laptop segment? Well, yes and no for now, considering that both Intel and AMD are preparing for newer mobile SoCs, such as Panther Lake and Medusa Point, and those lineups will show us a much better comparison. But, judging from how big an architectural improvement Qualcomm has brought in from just a single generation, it is safe to say that Intel/AMD would need to do much more to ensure that the dominance stays on their side.
We have already covered the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip here; hence, check it out to witness the 'revolution' of the ARM architecture in the laptop segment.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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