Qualcomm is releasing the Snapdragon X Plus chip in mid-2024 alongside the Snapdragon X Elite processor. Like X Elite, this chip features the company’s custom-integrated Qualcomm Oryon CPU — which promises faster CPU performance than competing processors while consuming less power.
The Snapdragon X Plus packs a 10-core Qualcomm Oryon CPU and a 45 TOPS NPU, which Qualcomm says is the faster NPU for laptops. Because of that, the company claims the X Plus will feature “industry-leading on-device AI capabilities.”
We expect the first laptops powered by Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite to be released starting in 2024. If Qualcomm’s claims are true, this AI-focused chip could give processors like the Intel Core Ultra and Apple M3 a run for their money.
Here’s everything we know about Snapdragon X Plus.
Snapdragon X Plus: Availability
The first laptops featuring Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite chips will start shipping in mid-2024 — meaning we could see them as early as June. Qualcomm hasn’t provided a list of which manufacturers will produce these notebooks. That said, it’s expected that partners such as Lenovo and Microsoft will be involved.
Pricing for Snapdragon X Plus laptops will depend on the manufacturer.
Snapdragon X Plus: Specs and performance
The Snapdragon X Plus is built on the same 4nm process as the Snapdragon X Elite and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for mobile devices. This chip features 10 high-performance cores capable of hitting 3.4GHz. Its CPU memory architecture has up to 135GB/s of bandwidth and 42MB total cache.
Qualcomm says the X Plus is up to 10% faster than the Apple M3 chip and 54% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU in the Geekbench multi-threaded CPU performance. The company also says its chip consumes 54% less power than Intel’s processor in the same benchmark test.
In the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme graphics benchmark, the Snapdragon X Plus’ Adreno GPU is 36% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and consumes half as much power. If true, X Plus’ integrated GPU offers superior graphical performance over Meteor Lake’s Xe Graphics.
Like X Elite, Snapdragon X Plus supports 4K displays at 120Hz and HDR10. It also supports triple UHD (4K) and dual 5K, both at 60Hz. If you have a multi-monitor setup or would like to have one, laptops packing Qualcomm’s CPU should be quite capable.
Snapdragon X Plus: Our testing
At a recent Qualcomm event, we tested the Snapdragon X Plus' performance in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark test. This is what we saw.
| Chip (laptop) | Geekbench 6 (single-core) | Geekbench 6 (multicore) |
|---|---|---|
| Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (Reference design laptop) | 2408 | 13015 |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (Reference design laptop) | 2864 | 15016 |
| M3 (MacBook Air) | 3082 | 12087 |
| M3 Pro (MacBook Pro) | 3154 | 14357 |
| M3 Max (MacBook Pro) | 3200 | 21711 |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (Asus Zenbook Duo) | 2475 | 12867 |
| Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra) | 2421 | 13124 |
Multi-core performance is a little closer to the competition but the beefier M3 Pro and M3 Max run circles around the lower-end Snapdragon X Plus. However, Qualcomm's chip is faster than the M3 found in the latest MacBook Air and iMac.
X Plus is aiming for the mid-tier Windows laptop market, with numbers much closer in competition to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H in the Asus Zenbook Duo. However, the Ultra 9 185H in the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra has the advantage.
We’ll need to conduct our own lab tests to see if they align with Qualcomm’s internal benchmarks. If what we’ve seen is accurate, the X Plus could deliver decent gaming — though we doubt said performance would be on par with the best gaming laptops.
Snapdragon X Plus: Qualcomm AI engine
Like the Snapdragon X Elite chip, the Snapdragon X Plus is made to handle AI-driven tasks more efficiently than a standard CPU or GPU. To that end, it’s also a direct competitor to Intel’s Meteor Lake and Apple’s M3.
Snapdragon X Plus’ AI Engine runs on an upgraded Hexagon NPU that’s capable of 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second). While that’s less than the X Elite’s 75 TOPS, it’s more than Meteor Lake’s 34 TOPS. Laptops featuring the X Plus (and X Elite) should crunch through AI-driven tasks without obliterating your laptop’s battery.
Snapdragon X Plus: Outlook
Qualcomm is talking a big game about its Snapdragon X chips so it’ll be interesting to see if laptops featuring these processors will deliver the kind of performance and battery life the company claims. With all the promises we’ve heard about what AI can offer, it’ll be good to see machines that can actually deliver the goods in that respect.
As for the Snapdragon X Plus chip, its lower comparative specs to X Elite likely means it’ll likely be on lower-priced notebooks. To that end, customers will have a choice between two AI-driven Qualcomm PC processors, which is certainly nice. But we’ll need to wait until the middle of the year to test these laptops for ourselves.
We’ll update this page with all the latest Snapdragon X Plus news that emerges, so stay tuned for more.
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