There’s something about you, Snappy.
The launch of Copilot+ AI PCs has been made possible due to the performance on offer from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X-series processor family. Focusing on the NPU and AI performance does Qualcomm a disservice, though. Admittedly, we’ll have to get devices in hand to truly judge their level of competitiveness, but the early signs look good, and Intel and AMD should be wary of their new PC competitor.
Performance isn’t everything, and though the class leading NPU and AI performance at up to 45 TOPS is being shouted about, the long battery life of the platform is a major contributing factor leading to all the major laptop makers boarding the Snapdragon X-series train. Qualcomm is touting the new non-x86 chips as « The PC reborn » and that is indeed what it’s calling its Computex keynote on June 2, too.
According to Gartner, the top 6 laptop manufacturers in the world are Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, Asus, and Acer, in that order. We can exclude Apple, obviously, but it’s somewhat surprising to me that the other five are all planning laptops with either Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus processors.
That says there’s a lot they like about the platform to jump in to the new non-x86 Windows platform in its first generation. And, with Computex now a matter of days away, we can expect to see more models, and a broad showcase of the strengths and weaknesses of the platform.Acer Swift 14 AI
Let’s go over a few of the models unveiled today in alphabetical order, beginning the Acer Swift 14 AI.
It will be available with a choice of Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite processors, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, 1TB Gen 4 SSD, and a 75Wh battery, which Acer claims is 30% more efficient than the Apple M2 Max.
It’ll have a 14.5-inch 2560 x 1600 120Hz IPS touchscreen, WiFi 7 and weigh just 1.36KG. Its price will start from $1,099. Asus Vivobook S 15
If you fancy a model with an OLED screen, then the Asus Vivobook S 15 is worth checking out. It too will come with an option of Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 or Snapdragon X Plus X1P 64 100 processor, which are 12 and 10-core chips respectively. It includes one of Asus’ typically lovely 2880 x 1620 OLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.
It comes with a 70Wh battery, WiFi 7, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 1TB SSD. It weighs 1.42KG. It also comes with a pair of Type-C USB 4 ports. I could not see a price for this model, but given the specs and the fact that premium Asus models are typically on the pricey side, I wouldn’t expect this one to be cheap.
