Qualcomm Unveils 8-Core Snapdragon X Plus For Lower Cost Copilot+ AI Laptops
Qualcomm is in the midst of a major push into the Windows ecosystem with its Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite and Plus silicon, which power the initial batch of Microsoft's Copilot+ branded laptops. Expanding on that effort, Qualcomm is rolling out two new 8-core variants of the Snapdragon X Plus, which should help usher in more affordable options without sacrificing on-device workloads, at least as it pertains to those that are driven by the onboard NPU (neural processing unit).
The NPU is one of the keys to Qualcomm's ongoing encroachment into what has traditionally been x86 territory. Dedicated NPUs are quickly trending towards becoming commonplace, both on Arm-based solutions and x86 silicon from AMD and Intel. The more NPU hardware that exists in the wild, the more motivated developers will be to push on-device artificial intelligence (AI) features and experiences into the mainstream market.
Snapdragon X Plus: Now In 8 And 10-Core Flavors
Qualcomm's new 8-core Snapdragon X Plus SKUs (X1P-42-100 and X1P-46-100) are built on the same 4-nanometer manufacturing process as the rest of the Plus and Elite chips, and importantly, they retain the full breadth of NPU performance at 45 TOPS. That means the NPU is just as powerful on the lowest end and most affordable Snapdragon X Plus as it is on the top Snapdragon X Elite chip (X1E-00-1DE).
In addition, Qualcomm added another 10-core SKU (X1P-66-100) with a higher single-core speed bin—it can boost to 4GHz.
Whereas there are four Snapdragon X Elite models, there previously was just a single Snapdragon X Plus model. Now there are four in all with the addition of two new 8-core variants and another 10-core part. Here's a specifications overview of how they all compare (all of the SKUs support LPDDR5X-8448 memory, which we omitted from the below chart to save space)...
The base 8-core part features a 3.2GHz maximum multi-core frequency, a 3.4GHz single-core boost clock, 30MB of L3 cache, 45 TOPS of NPU performance, and 1.7 TFLOPS of graphics performance.
Qualcomm's other 8-core variant bumps the maximum multi-core clock to 3.4GHz and the single-core boost frequency to 4GHz. Otherwise, it has the same 30MB of total cache and 45 TOPS of NPU performance, and a higher 2.1 TFLOPS of graphics performance.
Finally, the up-spec'd 10-core model serves up the same performance figures, but with a 4GHz single-core boost clock, which should help with certain workloads.
Snapdragon X Plus 8-Core: Expected Performance
Looking at the x86 competition, Qualcomm is claiming a favorable performance-to-power curve that arches heavily in favor of its 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chips, both in single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. Intel just announced its Core Ultra Series 2 (Lunar Lake) laptop CPU lineup, however, so it will be interesting to see how the metrics compare between Qualcomm's and Intel's latest silicon.
"Copilot+ PCs, powered exclusively today by Snapdragon X Series platforms, launched the new
generation in personal computing, made possible by our groundbreaking NPU. We are now
bringing these transformative AI experiences, along with best-in-class performance and
unprecedented battery life, to more users worldwide with Snapdragon X Plus 8-core," said
Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm Incorporated.
That pretty much sums up the situation—Qualcomm's striking while the iron is hot and making a bid to expand its reach within the Copilot+ ecosystem before x86 solutions with AMD and Intel hardware get the green light to begin using the same branding.
Beyond retaining the full capabilities of the onboard NPU, the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus additions also offer similar perks as the rest of the lineup, such as battery life advantages and the ability to drive up to three external displays at a 4K resolution and 60Hz.
It will be interesting to see how Qualcomm's and Microsoft's hardware partners leverage the newest silicon. In addition to being more affordable, having fewer cores and a slower clock could, in theory, pave the way for increasingly thin and light solutions, as the thermal demand is lessened.
To that end, plenty of partners are on tap, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Qualcomm says the first Copilot+ laptops to use its 8-core Snapdragon X Plus models will land at retail today starting at $799.
