Here’s how Qualcomm’s new laptop chips really stack up to Apple, Intel, and AMD
A detailed benchmark analysis compares Qualcomm's Snapdragon X laptop chips with Apple's M3, Intel's Core Ultra, and AMD's Ryzen 8000 processors.
Joanna Nelius tested Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips against Apple's M3, Intel's Core Ultra, and AMD's Ryzen 8000 series to evaluate their performance. The Snapdragon X series showed excellent power efficiency and multicore performance but did not surpass Apple's M3 in single-core tasks and lagged behind high-end Intel and AMD GPUs in graphical benchmarks.
Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 provided a broad overview of CPU capabilities, revealing that Qualcomm's processors, while a close competitor to Apple, still featured limitations in game performance and x86 emulation. In terms of battery life, Snapdragon laptops outperformed many Intel and AMD counterparts, often lasting 14-16 hours compared to the MacBook Air's 18, but some compatibility issues with applications remain.
Qualcomm's strategy includes focusing on productivity over gaming and leveraging superior power efficiency, which could attract more consumers if developers create more native Arm64 apps. Despite the notable improvements, future challenges from Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Ryzen AI could shift the competitive landscape, but Qualcomm has proven that Windows on Arm is feasible.