Qualcomm teases Snapdragon X Elite chips for desktop PCs.

The Snapdragon X Elite chip represents a significant departure from Qualcomm's previous offerings in several ways. Firstly, it is designed with a new set of CPU cores, dubbed “Oryon,” which were developed in concert with some in-house expertise from a company called Nuvia, founded by former Apple Silicon personnel. This collaboration is aimed at enhancing the performance and efficiency of the chip.

Secondly, the Snapdragon X Elite is a part of Qualcomm's biggest push yet into the high-performance/high-efficiency tier of processors for laptops. It is a far cry from earlier Qualcomm laptop efforts, which showed generally lackluster performance compared to Intel and AMD alternatives.

Lastly, the Snapdragon X Elite and Plus processors are a part of Qualcomm's new Oryon cores, which the company is betting on for more power and efficiency. Following Apple's success with its M-series chips, Qualcomm is looking to prove what Arm can do for Windows notebooks, aiming for thin, long-lasting, powerful PCs.

These chips are also being touted as artificial intelligence powerhouses. Each carries an NPU capable of 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS), which Qualcomm is calling "the world's fastest NPU for laptops." In comparison, Intel's existing Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors have NPUs that support 10 TOPS, while AMD's 8040-series "Hawk Point" goes up to 16 TOPS. This means Qualcomm will offer a significant advantage (at least, until Intel's Lunar Lake launches).

In terms of specifications, the Snapdragon X Elite chips have between 10 and 12 high-performance CPU cores. They support fast, low-power LPDDR5x memory and include an integrated GPU. They also have a dedicated NPU, made to handle basic AI-powered tasks using less power than they would using the CPU and GPU.

In summary, the Snapdragon X Elite chip differs from Qualcomm's previous offerings in terms of its enhanced performance, efficiency, and AI capabilities. It represents Qualcomm's biggest push yet into the high-performance/high-efficiency tier of processors for laptops.

The Copilot Plus laptops are expected to launch later this month. They will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips and will be available in various form factors, including desktop PCs or all-in-one devices.