in addition to the flagship smartphones' top-tier socs, qualcomm has also launched two new arm-based laptop solutions. the snapdragon x2 elite extreme is the first 5ghz chip in the series, while its slimmed-down version, the x2 elite, targets more affordable mobile pcs.
both new products are manufactured using a 3nm process and feature the third-generation oryon core. the snapdragon x2 elite extreme is an 18-core model (12 x 3.6 ghz + 6 x 4.4 ghz), with two cores capable of turbo boost up to 5 ghz.
this mobile platform boasts 53 mb of cache and is positioned as a solution for professionals using ai tools. it supports lpddr5x-9523 ram with speeds up to 228 gb/s.
the integrated adreno x2 gpu clocks up to 1.85 ghz and is expected to deliver 2.3 times better performance than the first-generation chip. the igpu supports directx 12.2 ultimate, vulkan 1.4, and opencl 3.0, and can drive up to three 60 hz 5k displays.
according to qualcomm, the hexagon npu module can "compress" up to 80 tops (int8), making the new processor well-suited for running modern large-scale language models (llms).
the more affordable snapdragon x2 elite comes in two variants. the high-end model (x2e-88-100) has the same number of cores as the extreme version but lower clock speeds: up to 4.7 ghz. the lower-end model (x2e-80-100) has 12 cores and slightly inferior integrated chip performance, but the same npu.
all new products include the qualcomm x75 5g modem (with download speeds up to 10 gbps) and the fastconnect 7800 chip (wi-fi 7 + bluetooth 5.4 le audio). the qualcomm spectra isp image processor supports cameras with resolutions up to 36 mp (4k @ 30 fps, hdr, 10-bit color depth for streaming videos).
another useful feature of the new generation of chips is support for snapdragon guardian technology, which is used to locate and remotely block/wipe data on lost laptops.
the first laptops equipped with qualcomm's new chips are expected to hit the market in the first half of 2026.
