It's been over a year since Qualcomm unleashed its Snapdragon X Series CPUs on the first lineup of Copilot+ PCs, and now it's time for next-gen processors — with the rumored Snapdragon X2 CPUs expected to be just around the corner.
With Qualcomm's range of Snapdragon X chips, including the Snapdragon X Elite, Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X, the company gave Windows laptops the performance and energy efficiency to rival its competitors. Even giving Apple's M-series CPUs a run for their money.
In fact, one of the best laptops still around is the Dell XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, boasting nearly 20 hours of battery life and performance nearly on a par with the MacBook Air M3. However, that was over a year ago, and new Apple, Intel and AMD chips have arrived to deliver AI-powered improvements (even a rumored Nvidia N1X CPU is expected to be in the works).
But this could all change very soon with the arrival of Snapdragon X2 CPUs. With Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2025 announced and rumors indicating an all-new chipset with incredible specs, all signs are pointing to a fresh slate of processors. And soon.
Let's dive into what we know so far.
Snapdragon X2: Rumored release date
This should be an easy one. Qualcomm is holding its annual Snapdragon Summit on September 23, 2025, taking place in Hawaii. That should set the stage for a Snapdragon X2 Series announcement.
The keynote is expected to take place on September 23, with CEO Cristiano Amon taking the stage to hopefully announce the latest CPUs. Of course, we won't know for sure until the event takes place, but there's a good chance this will be where the tech giant spills the beans on its next laptop processors.
With the Snapdragon X Elite chip announced during the Snapdragon Summit 2023, we may at least see a Snapdragon X2 Elite arrive. It wasn't until April 2024 that we saw the Snapdragon X Plus, and then CES 2025 when we saw the Snapdragon X CPU.
But many believed Qualcomm would announce its Snapdragon X2 lineup at Computex 2025, which didn't turn out to be the case. Amon specifically said: "There will be no focus on chip announcements" at the event. So, it's still unclear if we will see Snapdragon X CPUs by the end of September after all.
That said, right at the end of the Qualcomm keynote, Amon confirmed that "the revolution continues at Summit 2025." Now, that's heavily implying that Snapdragon X2 is set to be revealed in September.
As for when the Snapdragon X2 chips will launch in laptops, this may not be until early 2026 — if the X Elite laptop launch is anything to go by.
Snapdragon X2: Performance
If there's one thing that's certain about Qualcomm's chips, it's that the Snapdragon X Series delivers an exceptional balance of performance and power efficiency.
The tech giant even slammed Intel for being able to run a laptop at "max performance when unplugged." This was made apparent when I saw how a Snapdragon X Elite could outperform an Intel CPU. But, of course, it depends on the laptop they're powering, too.
With this being the case, what performance can we expect in the rumored Snapdragon X2 processors? According to known leaker Roland Quandt (via TechPowerUp), the Snapdragon X2 Elite looks to be a powerful chip. It's expected to be an 18-core CPU based on Oryon V3 CPU architecture.
SC8480XP aka SD X2 Elite in testing with 64GB RAM... looking like 18 core thing more and more.
— @rquandt.bsky.social (@rquandt.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T20:15:51.102Z
Interestingly, the tipster notes that it's being tested on 64GB configurations, showcasing the type of laptops and possibly even desktops that will best suit the performance of the chip.
Compared to the Snapdragon X Elite, which features 12 cores, a base clock of 3.4 GHz, and 45 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second), the X2 Elite appears to have a 50% increase in CPU cores. There have been murmurs that this would see up to a 30% increase in single-thread performance, and an even bigger increase in multi-thread performance.
All of this translates to better performance in PCs, which may outclass the current roster of CPUs, including the Intel Core Ultra 2 series, AMD Ryzen AI 300 and M4 chips in MacBooks.
We'll get a proper gauge of what to expect once Qualcomm officially announces its Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, and it's likely X2 Plus and X2 chips. But it may not just be for laptops this time around.
Snapdragon X2: More than laptops?
As mentioned, the Snapdragon X2 Elite looks to come packed with plenty of performance power, and rumors (via Tom's Hardware) suggest Qualcomm may be looking to bring its next-gen CPU lineup to desktops, too.
This comes from a leak indicating that Qualcomm tested its X2 Elite with 120mm AIO cooling solutions. This is an all-in-one cooling system usually found in desktop towers to keep components nice and cool.
It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, as Qualcomm's range of Snapdragon chips can be found in a majority of devices. That includes smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S25, tablets including the RedMagic Astra for gaming, the Meta Quest 3 and more. It's even taking the lead with new tech in XR glasses.
These are all different SoCs for different platforms, but seeing how it's expected that Snapdragon X2 chips will be in more than just laptops, it wouldn't be completely shocking.
Snapdragon X2: Worth the wait?
Considering we've seen next-gen CPUs from leading competitors over the past year, all without a peep from Qualcomm, the time is ripe for Snapdragon X2 processors to drop.
They may not end up being called "Snapdragon X2," but Qualcomm will have a lot to gain in new generation laptops (and possibly more platforms) if it delivers its next line-up of GPUs. Especially with the rumored performance they could boast.
There are a few ways Qualcomm could conquer the current CPU market in laptops, from unlocking better gaming performance to having AI make a real impact. So here's hoping the company has been lying in wait to deliver the goods.
Either way, Snapdragon X2 CPUs may be making a grand entrance by the end of September at the Snapdragon Summit 2025, so it won't be much longer until all is revealed. Watch this space for new CPU news.
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