Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips enable Windows on ARM to reach more affordable laptops.
Soon, $600 laptops with Windows will arrive in Arm versions.
Qualcomm has introduced a new chip for laptops in the Snapdragon X series, which will enable devices with Copilot Plus to be priced around $600. This new model joins the existing Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite, and it will be available in a variety of devices from brands such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo in the coming months.
The Snapdragon X is specifically designed for mid-range and budget laptops, so its performance will not match that of the X Plus or X Elite variants. However, Qualcomm assures that this chip will provide better performance per watt compared to the Intel Core 5 120U processor, as well as improved battery life across various tests. Like the rest of the Snapdragon X series, the base chip will include a 45 TOPS NPU that supports Microsoft’s Copilot Plus features. Additionally, the Qualcomm Oryon CPU features eight cores that can reach speeds of up to 3GHz and is produced using the same 4nm process as the rest of the series.
The Snapdragon X will also serve as the foundation for the launch of the first desktop mini PCs powered by Qualcomm. It is anticipated that tomorrow the "world's first mini desktop with the Snapdragon X series" will be unveiled, suggesting that more Copilot Plus mini PCs are on the way.
The Snapdragon X is expected to have a significant impact on the $600 laptop market, increasing pressure on Intel's initiatives in this segment. Qualcomm announced that currently, over 60 laptop designs from different manufacturers are in production or development based on the Snapdragon X series, and more than 100 are scheduled for release by 2026. The trend of Windows on ARM devices continues to grow.
