Comparing Snapdragon to Intel, AMD, and Apple Chips: Our Analysis of Over a Dozen Laptops

After 12 years of development, Microsoft has finally succeeded in making Windows on Arm a viable platform. This achievement comes as a result of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, which have transformed Windows on Arm into a competitive platform against MacBooks.

Testing seven Copilot Plus PCs running on Snapdragon X chips against Apple Silicon, Intel Core Ultra, and AMD Ryzen processors, Microsoft has shown significant progress in performance, price competitiveness, and battery life. While Snapdragon chips may not outperform Apple’s M3 chip in every benchmark, they do pose a challenge to established competitors like Intel and AMD.

The focus on power efficiency in recent years has led to significant advancements in Arm-based processors. The instruction set used by Arm processors is more efficient compared to x86 chips from Intel and AMD, resulting in faster task processing using less power. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips offer improved core counts and clock speeds, competing with Apple’s hybrid core Arm chips, AMD’s homogeneous core x86 chips, and Intel’s hybrid core x86 chips.

In terms of CPU performance, the Snapdragon X Elite chips excel in single-core and multicore benchmarks, showcasing impressive results compared to Intel and AMD processors. However, they fall behind in GPU performance, with integrated Adreno GPUs lagging behind higher-end GPUs from Intel and AMD. Gaming on Arm is possible, but limitations in GPU performance may impact heavy graphical workloads.

Emulation on Windows on Arm devices has seen improvements, with faster app emulation than previous versions, but native Arm64 versions still perform better. Battery life on Copilot Plus PCs with Snapdragon chips is impressive, lasting up to 16 hours on average, surpassing many Intel- and AMD-based laptops.

Looking ahead, Qualcomm’s lead in the Windows on Arm space may face challenges from upcoming chips like Intel’s Lunar Lake and AMD’s Ryzen AI processors. These new processors aim to improve power consumption, performance, and battery life, potentially closing the gap with Qualcomm’s offerings.

Overall, the progress made by Qualcomm and Microsoft in developing Windows on Arm is promising, providing consumers with more affordable, efficient, and long-lasting devices. As app compatibility improves and reviews of Snapdragon X laptops become available, Intel and AMD will need to innovate to compete with the new wave of Arm-based devices on the market.

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https://www.theverge.com/24191671/copilot-plus-pcs-laptops-qualcomm-intel-amd-apple