A leak indicates that the Snapdragon X Elite 2 will significantly enhance laptop performance.

      Qualcomm made a significant entry into the laptop market last year, garnering considerable attention, and now rumors regarding its next-generation Snapdragon laptop chips are beginning to surface. A known Weibo leaker, Fixed Focus Digital, claims that boost clock speeds will start at 4.4 GHz and anticipates performance improvements between 18% and 22%.

      Due to the lack of official information and limited leaks, details about the upcoming Snapdragon chip remain scarce, including its potential name. Currently, some refer to it as the Snapdragon X Elite 2, while others use the name Snapdragon X2 Elite. The available leaks suggest it will have 18 cores and a projected launch date around October 2025, but these remain largely speculative.

      The anticipated 4.4 GHz boost clock speed is intriguing as it implies the base clock speed may also be elevated. However, higher clock speeds typically generate more heat, so Qualcomm may have developed better thermal management solutions or created smaller components to mitigate heat generation, as smaller components generally produce less heat. Presently, Snapdragon chips utilize 4 nm technology, but it remains unclear whether the next generation will adopt 3 nm or even 2 nm technology, with the latter not expected until 2026.

      The predicted performance enhancements may take into account factors beyond just clock speeds, as the clock speeds alone do not show an 18% to 22% improvement over the previous generation. Qualcomm likely made several adjustments and enhancements in various areas to achieve these performance improvements, making it challenging to speculate without further details.

      The success of Qualcomm's new chips doesn't solely rely on performance. While their collaboration with Microsoft attracted significant media interest, the software challenges presented by Windows on Arm have also been considerable. Currently, Snapdragon X Elite laptops are known for having high return rates, primarily due to compatibility and software issues related to Windows, rather than hardware deficiencies.

      Despite this, Qualcomm has ambitious goals for its laptop chips, and it will be intriguing to see their strategy moving forward.

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      Willow Roberts has served as a Computing Writer at Digital Trends for a year and has been writing for approximately a decade.

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      It’s official — Intel has now claimed the Windows battery life title.

      A new era for Windows computing has emerged, centered around Microsoft's Copilot+ PC initiative and several new chipsets. While the focus has been on artificial intelligence (AI) features and performance enhancements due to faster Neural Processing Units (NPUs), the most significant updates lie in performance and battery longevity. This is a positive development for Windows, which has been competing against Apple's Silicon MacBooks, known for their excellent performance and superior efficiency.

      The new chipsets include Qualcomm's Snapdragon X, AMD's Ryzen AI 300, and Intel's Lunar Lake. Each chipset features an NPU that exceeds Microsoft's requirement of 40 tera operations per second (TOPS); however, while AMD prioritizes performance, both Qualcomm and Intel emphasize efficiency. So, where does each chipset stand in terms of performance?

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      HP has just introduced three new laptops at its annual HP Imagine event, and there’s a lot to be excited about for work users. The standout offering is the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip, a 2-in-1 laptop featuring a 3K OLED touchscreen. The other two laptops also target professionals, and HP caters to fans of Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD, as the trio showcases different CPUs.

      Starting with the OmniBook Ultra Flip, this 14-inch convertible laptop is powered by Intel's latest Lunar Lake processors, which can go up to the Core 9 Ultra 288V with eight cores, eight threads, and a maximum clock speed of 5.1GHz. The entry-level variant features the Ultra 5 226V, which also has eight cores and eight threads but boosts up to only 4.5GHz. All models include integrated Intel Arc graphics, with the top two chips offering a 16GB option, while the more budget-friendly models come with 8GB.

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      Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has revealed that Snapdragon X chips will expand to PCs priced as low as $700 next year, according to a report by The Verge. This would represent a nearly $300 decrease since the lowest-priced Snapdragon X PCs currently available are the $999 Surface Laptop 7 and the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus.

      However, Amon did not clarify whether these budget-friendly PCs would be laptops, as tablets and desktops are also possible options. Qualcomm has already begun to explore the mini-PC market with its $799 desktop developer kit, which targets developers looking to work with Windows on Arm. If a consumer version were offered at a similar price, it could rival products like the Mac mini.