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Qualcomm is reportedly working on a new processor for PCs that will rival Apple’s M-series chips. The Snapdragon X Elite, as it is called, is expected to be the company’s first PC chip to feature its custom Oryon cores, which are based on the Phoenix design developed by Nuvia, a subsidiary of Qualcomm.

learn more about qualcomm snapdragon X elite — *image credit: qualcomm*

According to a leak from WindowsReport, the Snapdragon X Elite will have a 12-core CPU, all of which are high-performance Oryon cores. This is a surprising choice, as most ARM-based processors have a mix of performance and efficiency cores to balance power and battery life. The leak also suggests that the Snapdragon X Elite will support LPDDR5X memory, with up to 136GB/s bandwidth.

The graphics department of the Snapdragon X Elite will be handled by an unnamed Adreno GPU, which is said to deliver 4.6 TFLOPS of computing performance, enough to support a triple 4K monitor setup. The chip will also have a Hexagon Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for AI tasks, with a whopping 45 TOPS of computing power. Additionally, the Snapdragon X Elite will feature a 5G modem and Wi-Fi 7 capability, giving it an edge over the current-gen Macs that only support Wi-Fi 6.

Qualcomm claims that its CPU and GPU are up to two times faster than x86 processors, but it is unclear which x86 processors they are comparing to. VideoCardz speculates that Qualcomm might be referring to Intel’s Raptor Lake 96EU, which has a peak performance of 2.3 TFLOPS. However, these claims will have to be verified by real-world benchmarks and tests.

The Snapdragon X Elite is expected to launch next year at the earliest, where it will face stiff competition from Apple’s M-series chips, which are already dominating the PC market with their performance and efficiency. Qualcomm will also have to overcome the challenges of app compatibility and developer support for Windows on ARM, which is still lagging behind macOS on ARM.

The Snapdragon X Elite is Qualcomm’s ambitious attempt to challenge Apple Silicon and enter the PC market with its own custom cores. Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen, but it is certainly an exciting development for PC enthusiasts and fans of ARM architecture.