Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon X series, its answer to Apple Silicon

Qualcomm is ready to take on Apple Silicon with its new Snapdragon X series of processors for Windows PCs. It’s a brand-new platform to deliver a “quantum leap forward” in performance and power efficiency with the Oryon CPU cores.

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The Oryon CPU cores result from Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia, a startup founded by former Apple engineers, in 2021. Qualcomm claims that the Oryon cores will offer a “best-in-class” experience for PC users, with improved performance per watt, generative AI capabilities, and 5G connectivity.

Snapdragon X is the New Branding for PC Chips

The Snapdragon X series will also have a new branding and naming scheme, with a simplified tiering structure that will help customers easily understand the capabilities of each chip. The Snapdragon X series will use the letter X as an identifier, followed by a generation number and a performance tier. 

For example, the first chip in the series could be called Snapdragon X Gen 1 Pro.

Qualcomm did not reveal specific details about the Snapdragon X series specs, features, or benchmarks. We’ll learn more about its new platform at the Snapdragon Summit on October 24 to 26 in Maui, Hawaii.

Challenge Apple’s M Chips

The Snapdragon X series will directly compete with Apple’s M-series chips, based on Apple’s custom Arm architecture. Apple’s silicon, which recently has been powering the latest MacBooks and iPads, has been praised for its performance and efficiency.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series will also compete with Intel and AMD, which dominate the PC market with their x86-based chips. 

Intel and AMD have also been improving their performance and efficiency, with Intel launching its 14th-gen Meteor Lake chips later this month and AMD working on its Zen 5 architecture.

The Snapdragon X series will aim to challenge Apple Silicon and x86 chips in terms of performance, power efficiency, and user experience. Whether Qualcomm can deliver on its promises remains to be seen, but we will find out more at the Snapdragon Summit later this month.