After years of trying to make Windows PCs with ARM chips a reality, the Snapdragon X Elite family finally reached the mainstream in 2024, with laptops from all major PC brands, both for consumer and enterprise use. Not only that, in combination with Windows 11, the new chips finally brought good compatibility with existing apps, including ARM versions of some of the most popular software.

  Snapdragon X2 Elite Snapdragon X Elite Snapdragon X Plus Apple M4 Max Apple M4
Performance core
  • 12x Oryon @ 4.4 GHz
  • 12x Oryon @ 3.8 GHz
  • 10x Oryon @ 3.4 GHz
  • 12x custom @ 4.51 GHz
  • 4x custom @ 4.40 GHz 
Efficiency core
  • 6x Oryon @ 3.6 GHz
  • –
  • –
  • 4x custom @ 2.75 GHz
  • 6x custom @ 2.85 GHz
RAM
  • LPDDR5x-9523
    12x 16-bit @ 4761 MHz
    (228 GB/s)
  • LPDDR5x-8448
    8x 16-bit @ 4224 MHz
    (135 GB/s)
  • LPDDR5x-8448
    8x 16-bit @ 4224 MHz
    (135 GB/s)
  • LPDDR5x-8533
    32x 16-bit @ 4266 MHz
    (546 GB/s)
  • LPDDR5x-7500
    8x 16-bit @ 3750 MHz
    (120 GB/s)
GPU
  • “Adreno” @ 1.85 GHz
    DirectX 12
  • “Adreno”
    DirectX 12
    (4.6 TFLOPS)
  • “Adreno”
    DirectX 12
    (3.8 TFLOPS)
  • 40x Apple custom GPU

    (17 TFLOPS)
  • 10x Apple custom GPU

    (4.26 TFLOPS)
Cellular modem
  • 5G (sub-6GHz+mmWave)
    (Snapdragon X75)
  • 5G (sub-6GHz+mmWave)
    (Snapdragon X65)
  • 5G (sub-6GHz+mmWave)
    (Snapdragon X65)
  • n/a
  • n/a
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 7
    Bluetooth 5.4
    (FastConnect 7800)
  • Wi-Fi 7
    Bluetooth 5.4
    (FastConnect 7800)
  • Wi-Fi 7
    Bluetooth 5.4
    (FastConnect 7800)
  • Wi-Fi 6E
    Bluetooth 5.3
  • Wi-Fi 6E
    Bluetooth 5.3
Process node
  • TSMC N3E
    (“3 nm”)
  • TSMC N4
    (“4 nm”)
  • TSMC N4
    (“4 nm”)
  • TSMC N3E
    (“3 nm”)
  • TSMC N3E
    (“3 nm”)

5.0 GHz ARM cores

With the Snapdragon X2 Elite, Qualcomm promises even better performance, with up to 18 cores in its largest configuration. The 3rd generation custom Oryon CPU cores have a multi-core maximum speed of 4.4 GHz, but can be boosted to 5.0 GHz on two cores. The X2 Elite also includes lower clocked efficiency cores for less demanding tasks to save energy, and those CPU cores can run at up to 3.6 GHz.

According to Qualcomm, the new top-of-the-line Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is 2.3x superior in performance per watt when compared to the first-generation chip. And against its X86 rivals, the company claims to be 75% faster when compared at the same power consumption.

Qualcomm Oryon CPU with 18-core architecture and specifications including 5.0 GHz boost and 3nm process.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite CPU Overview / © Qualcomm Image source: Qualcomm

Part of the performance increase is thanks to the high clock speeds, enabled by using TSMC’s 3nm process. But under the hood, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme supports faster memory access, which should result in better multitasking performance and faster loading of apps or AI models.

Connectivity on the go

One area in which Qualcomm holds a significant advantage compared not only to Intel and AMD but also Apple (for now, at least) is wireless connectivity. The Snapdragon X2 Elite family supports the Snapdragon X75 5G modem for connections at up to 10 Gbps (with 3.5 Gbps uplink). It also includes the Fastconnect 7800 core for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support (no BT6 here).

Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite processor on a circuit board background.
Prepare to see this logo on many laptops in 2026. / © Qualcomm Image source: Ultrahuman

Snapdragon X2 Elite availability

Qualcomm expects that the first laptops powered by the new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips will reach the market in the first half of 2026. Different from its mobile counterpart, there is no list of brands launching PCs powered by the X2 Elite, but we expect to learn more at CES 2026.