Qualcomm’s Losing Streak Against Apple Silicon Continues, As Snapdragon X2 Plus Fails To Beat The Older M4 In 4 Out Of 5 Synthetic CPU & GPU Benchmark Tests

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite were quickly followed by the Snapdragon X2 Plus, directly succeeding the Snapdragon X Plus, which is expected to be found in the more affordable Windows-powered notebooks that will take on the Apple Silicon range. While the paper specifications are undoubtedly impressive, what is more important is how the entire package performs in multiple benchmarks.

Unfortunately, it’s another loss for Qualcomm because, after we reported that the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme lost to Apple’s M4 Max in Cinebench 2024’s single-core and multi-core benchmark comparison, we stumbled upon a series of tests where the Snapdragon X2 Plus was pitted against the M4 and a bunch of other processors. Sadly, Apple’s previous-generation release can beat its latest rival in four out of five synthetic CPU and GPU tests, as we take a closer look at the details.

It is also important to note that the Snapdragon X2 Plus tested against the M4 was a reference design, with the variant found in commercially available laptops expected to perform slightly slower

A series of synthetic CPU and GPU benchmarks was run by PCMag, giving the audience a closer look at how the Snapdragon X2 Plus would perform. While it offers a sizable difference compared to the Snapdragon X Plus, it falters against the M4, which only means that it would fare worse against the M5. Cinebench 2024, Geekbench 6, 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, and 3DMark Solar Bay were the usual suspects, with the M4 being up to 30 percent faster than the Snapdragon X2 Plus.

Even though a bevy of tests were carried out, and that too against multiple CPUs and APUs, we wanted to focus solely on the Apple Silicon, at least for now. All CPU and GPU benchmark results are posted below, with only one favoring the Snapdragon X2 Plus. You can also check out how Qualcomm’s latest SoC performed against chips like the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V, Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, Snapdragon X Elite, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375, and AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395.

Cinebench 2024 single-core

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 133
• M4 - 173 (30.08 percent faster)

Cinebench 2024 multi-core

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 1,011 (1.81 percent faster)
• M4 - 993

Geekbench 6 single-core

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 3,311
• M4 - 3,859 (16.55 percent faster)

Geekbench 6 multi-core

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 14,940
• M4 - 15,093 (1.02 percent faster)

3DMark Steel Nomad Light

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 3,067
• M4 - 3,949 (28.76 percent faster)

3DMark Solar Bay

• Snapdragon X2 Plus - 12,525
• M4 - 15,580 (24.39 percent faster)

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It is disappointing to see that Qualcomm’s newest offering cannot outpace an Apple Silicon that launched in 2024, but CPU and GPU tests aren’t going to be the only benchmarks carried out, so we wouldn’t be this quick to judge.

News Source: PCMag

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