Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme Beats Apple M4 Pro in CPU Performance but Lags in GPU
Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme Breaks CPU Records, Surpasses Apple M4 Pro but Still Trails in GPU
Qualcomm has officially unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, its next-generation SoC designed for Windows on Arm devices. Built on TSMC’s 3nm process and equipped with 18 third-generation Oryon cores clocked up to 5GHz, the chip delivers up to 75% higher CPU performance and 2.3x better performance per watt compared to its predecessor. Set for launch in the first half of 2026, the X2 Elite Extreme is positioned as a serious competitor in the high-performance laptop segment.
In benchmark tests, the new Snapdragon SoC outperformed Apple’s M4 Pro in Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core with a score of 1,964 vs. 1,679, a 17% lead, and dominated Geekbench 6.5 Multi-Core with 23,693 points, around 55% higher. However, single-core results were mixed — the M4 Pro maintained a 7% advantage in Cinebench, though it lost by a similar margin in Geekbench. The Snapdragon chip also decisively beat Intel’s Core Ultra 9 288V and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in multi-core workloads.
AI capabilities are another major highlight. Its 80 TOPS NPU outpaces Intel’s Core Ultra 9 by 128% and scores 4,151 in Procyon AI Computer Vision, more than 5.7x faster than some rivals, including Apple’s M4. This power enables advanced on-device AI tasks such as real-time translation and generative image creation while remaining energy efficient. Support for up to 48GB of LPDDR5X RAM with 228 GB/s bandwidth further enhances performance for demanding workloads.
However, the GPU performance tells a different story. The Adreno X2-90 still lags behind the M4 Pro, scoring 5,687 in 3DMark Steel Nomad Light Unlimited — 37-46% lower — and 22,946 in Solar Bay Unlimited. While it outperforms the M4 10-Core by 37-40%, it cannot yet challenge Apple’s Pro-level GPU. Qualcomm is instead emphasizing performance per watt, noting that non-native Windows apps on Arm via Prism currently limit GPU-heavy tasks like gaming and rendering.
These results, based on Qualcomm’s reference tests with higher power limits than retail devices, still paint a promising picture. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme could become a game-changer for lightweight, power-efficient Arm-based laptops, and improved Windows support for Arm could eventually threaten the dominance of Intel, AMD, and Apple Silicon in the PC market.
With Apple’s M5 expected next month, Qualcomm’s new chip may arrive slightly late, but its CPU and AI leadership positions it as a serious contender. Analysts believe developers, creative professionals, and AI-focused users stand to benefit the most from what could be Qualcomm’s most competitive PC processor to date.
