Qualcomm intends to make a strong debut into the PC market with the Snapdragon X architecture. And what about Apple and its Mx chips?
It will be two years after Qualcomm released details about their new architecture based on new CPU cores called “Oryon.” The manufacturer’s goal is to provide new processors for PC and mobile in order to compete with, and even outperform, Apple’s M1 (and shortly M3) and A16 architectures.
The technical details of these new processors are known ahead of the Qualcomm Summit, which begins on October 24 in Hawaii, owing to sources on the site Windows Report.
Qualcomm X Elite: an ultra-performance and intelligent chip
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor will be devoted to PC platforms. This one will be articulated around three axes: performance, energy efficiency, and, most importantly, IA. The CPU promises to outperform its x86 opponents (Intel and AMD) owing to its Oryon cores, which Qualcomm claims will be significantly quicker than ARM-based competition (hear, Apple).
And if there is one area where Apple has demonstrated its supremacy, it is in the consumption of its processors. With its 4nm engraving fineness, Qualcomm X’ architecture offers a level of performance comparable to the finest Windows laptops while consuming one-third less energy. Qualcomm might potentially confront Apple in this war on “performance per watt” on the basis of autonomy.
L’IA is also included in the Qualcomm X Elite processor, with the existence of an NPU dubbed “Hexagon.” By 2024, the existence of these “Neural Processing Units” will be democratized within our PC laptops, with these processors dedicated to the acceleration of all activities linked to artificial intelligence, whether machine learning or generative’IA (Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, ChatGPT). Microsoft is also working on its own NPU for future Surface and Xbox devices, indicating that the race for generational artificial intelligence is already begun.
The first Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered PCs are projected to join the market in mid-2024. It is a watershed year for the whole industry, as it will finally see the introduction of a promising ARM architecture, as well as an operating system to support it, Windows 12. Before that, Intel will release Meteor Lake at the end of the year, his own reaction to Apple for laptops.
