- Qualcomm launches Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme for next-gen Windows laptops.
- The Extreme model has 18 cores, boosts to 5.0GHz, and supports 128GB LPDDR5X memory.
- AI performance reaches 80 TOPS for advanced Copilot Plus PC features.
- Laptops with these chips will hit the market in the first half of 2026.
Qualcomm has officially revealed its next generation of processors for Windows laptops and PCs. The company’s new Snapdragon X2 Elite and the even more powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme aim to challenge AMD’s latest Ryzen AI Plus 395 and go beyond what Intel currently offers.
The announcement signals a serious move by Qualcomm into the high-performance computing market, especially for thin and light laptops that need strong AI features alongside great CPU and GPU performance.
The Power Inside: X2 Elite Extreme vs X2 Elite
The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is the true flagship. It is designed with 18 Oryon CPU cores built on TSMC’s cutting-edge 3-nanometer process. Out of these, 12 cores are high-performance “prime” cores, and six are designed for efficiency. Two of the prime cores can reach a boost clock speed of an impressive 5.0GHz. This makes the X2 Elite Extreme the first Arm-based consumer chip to hit that speed.
By comparison, the standard X2 Elite is more modest but still powerful. It uses up to 12 cores and is built on the 4-nanometer process. The top boost clock on one of its cores is 4.7GHz. While both chips support up to 128GB of LPDDR5X memory, the Extreme gets faster bandwidth and a larger cache of 53MB, compared to 34MB on the regular Elite.
This higher memory bandwidth is a big win for people who run heavy workloads such as video editing, 3D rendering, or large AI models. The X2 Elite Extreme’s boost to 5.0GHz is a milestone that could redefine what Arm-based laptops are capable of.
AI Power to Drive Next-Gen PCs
AI is at the heart of Qualcomm’s vision for the future. The X2 Elite Extreme’s neural processing unit (NPU) delivers up to 80 trillion operations per second (TOPS), nearly double the 45 TOPS of the X2 Elite.
This level of AI power is designed to support Copilot Plus PCs, allowing them to run multiple AI workloads locally, without relying on the cloud. This means faster performance, better privacy, and smoother experiences for tasks such as photo editing, real-time language translation, and content creation.
It’s clear that Qualcomm wants its chips to be the brains of future AI-ready laptops, positioning them as direct competitors to AMD’s Ryzen AI Plus 395 and ahead of Intel’s current integrated memory limit of 32GB.
Advanced Graphics and Display Capabilities
On the graphics front, Qualcomm has introduced serious upgrades. The X2 Elite Extreme comes with the Adreno X2-90 GPU, while the standard Elite has the slightly less powerful Adreno X2-85.
For the first time, both GPUs support hardware-based ray tracing. This feature enhances lighting, reflections, and shadows in games and creative applications, bringing laptop graphics closer to what high-end desktops can offer.
These chips also support DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan, and OpenCL 3.0, ensuring compatibility with the latest games and creative software.
Display support is equally impressive. Both chips can drive up to three external 4K monitors at 144Hz or two 5K monitors at 60Hz. This makes them excellent for multitasking professionals who need multiple screens.
Connectivity is also future-ready, with Wi-Fi 7 support via FastConnect 7800, optional 5G through the Snapdragon X75 modem, PCIe 5.0 on the Extreme model, and PCIe 4.0 on the standard Elite. Both also support NVMe SSDs, UFS 4.0 storage, and several USB4 ports for high-speed external devices.
Launch Timeline and Market Expectations
The first laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme are expected to arrive in the first half of 2026. This gives PC manufacturers enough time to design thin and powerful devices that can make full use of these advanced chips.
Early benchmarks for these processors are expected soon, and they will be closely watched to see how Qualcomm’s claims translate into real-world performance.
If the numbers hold up, Qualcomm’s new chips could shake up the market currently dominated by AMD and Intel, especially in the growing category of AI-focused PCs.
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