Qualcomm will do what Apple Silicon couldn't with its 8-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC

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Key findings

  • An 8-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC will make Arm laptops more affordable, starting at around $700 next year.
  • The plan to reduce prices of Snapdragon X laptops will bring users current-generation chip technology while lowering prices.
  • Qualcomm's new chips offer modern computing at a low price compared to Apple's aging M1 MacBook Air, which is also available at Walmart for $700.



Last week at IFA, Qualcomm announced an 8-core variant of its Snapdragon X Plus system-on-a-chip (SoC) that should help the chipmaker achieve its goal of making the platform more affordable. Reviews of the Snapdragon X Plus and Elite systems so far have been generally positive, especially when you consider typical usage for productivity and battery life. But there's still one problem: Unless you buy the $900 Snapdragon Dev Kit, even the entry-level Snapdragon X laptops cost around $1,000 and up.


Nobody is attacking the budget and mid-range laptop market, even though it's a dynamic sector that meets the needs of students, schools, businesses, and average users with low performance requirements. When Apple first announced it would use its own chips, I thought it was ready to launch a laptop that was competitive in price and performance. While we've seen price cuts on the MacBook range, they've hardly been the budget renaissance I'd hoped for.

That's changing, but it's Qualcomm – not Apple – that will offer capable and compelling Arm laptops for budget-conscious buyers. The new 8-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC will drive down costs for Qualcomm's hardware partners, and I think this chip will give us the best mid-range laptops in years.



One of the biggest problems with Snapdragon X is solved

You can get a Snapdragon X Plus laptop for around $700

While the Snapdragon X platform isn't designed for power users who need great gaming or graphics support, it's not a low-end platform either. You can get a decent laptop like the Surface Laptop 7 with a base Snapdragon X Plus processor for $1,000. However, a more realistic configuration with higher memory and storage capacities and more cores could easily push the price up to $1,500. The platform's shaky gaming and app support is arguably its biggest problem, but price is another point to think about.


That's even more true considering that one of Qualcomm's goals with Snapdragon X was to target the mid-range market. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon once said the platform's laptops would start at around $600, and recently said in a July 2024 earnings call that Snapdragon X laptops are expected to drop to as low as $700 next year.

That vision isn't quite realized yet. The Asus Vivobook S 15 and Dell Inspiron 14 both get an 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip configuration, but cost $900. However, it's easy to see where Qualcomm can go from here and why we're optimistic. The company hasn't cut any NPU performance on the 8-core variant, although GPU performance clearly worse. In addition, Qualcomm says that this Snapdragon X Plus chip performs 61% better than the Intel Core Ultra 7 155U – which is pretty good in itself.


Apple's best affordable laptop is four years old

If the M1 MacBook Air is the best it has to offer, that's not good enough

macOS 12 Monterey on MacBook Air M1

What I like about Qualcomm is that it's not just cutting prices on older chips. These are new current-generation SoCs, just offered in lower configurations. This means the chips still benefit from the chipmaking technology and architecture of higher-end chips, and ideally have the same software support. As long as you don't over-power the chips, the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip could give you a great modern computing experience at a low price.


Apple's approach has been just the opposite. It's done a good job of lowering prices on great Apple Silicon Macs that it replaced, but has done little to offer new hardware for the mid-range or mid-tier. For example, you can get an M2 MacBook Air for $1,000, which is $100 less than the current M3 MacBook Air. It sounds like a good deal until you realize a few things. This system has 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and is two years old. The graphics performance of the M3 chipset alone makes me think that despite the savings, no one should buy the M2 instead of the M3.


The only truly mid-priced laptop in Apple's lineup is a device that feels immortal at this point: the M1 MacBook Air. It was one of the first Apple Silicon Macs to launch in 2020, was discontinued by Apple earlier this year, but then revived by Walmart. At $700, it's the closest thing to a budget laptop we've ever seen from Apple.

It's still not great, though. The system still launches with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, and the four-year-old SoC is really starting to show its age. The M1 MacBook Air may be a good deal now, but many people keep their laptops for five to 10 years. I really don't want to think about how the base M1 MacBook Air will fare in 2030 or beyond. Since Qualcomm uses current-generation processors and architectures, laptops with the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chips should have a longer lifespan than Apple's $700 MacBook Air.


Why this market segment is important

Most people just want an affordable and powerful laptop

Chromebook Plus demo station at a Best Buy store.

As tech enthusiasts, it's easy to forget how people buy great laptops. They go to a store, look for the cheapest one that meets their needs, and move on. They don't spend a lot of time going through spec sheets, doing comparisons, or trying to scrape together enough money for a really high-quality model. This is why so many people, especially students and corporate users, are opting for Chromebooks.


That's why a Windows-on-Arm laptop that can hit the $600-$800 price range could be hugely successful. It's nice that you can get a MacBook for under $1,000, but a four-year-old device is hardly competitive with newer hardware. Qualcomm wants to give you new chip technology And great prices, and I'm all in.

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