Qualcomm releases a second processor to challenge Macs

© Qualcomm

Since Apple abandoned Intel processors in favor of Apple Silicon chips based on Arm technologies (like iPhone processors), the Cupertino company has a big advantage over the competition. Indeed, thanks to this new technology, Apple has been able to offer, on its Macs, processors with high performance, but with significant energy efficiency (therefore, more autonomy for laptop batteries).

However, this year, new components will kick off the anthill: Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips. In October 2023, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon

And this week, Qualcomm is strengthening its offering by launching a new component, the Snapdragon X Plus. Compared to the X Elite, this new chip has a slightly weaker CPU, since it only has 10 Oryon cores, compared to 12 for the Snapdragon X Elite. However, the Snapdragon X Plus also has 45 TOPS NPU (neural processing unit) for artificial intelligence. According to Qualcomm, this is currently the fastest NPU for laptops.

PCs are coming soon

To give an idea of ​​the power of its Snapdragon X chips in terms of artificial intelligence, Qualcomm gives a few examples. For example, thanks to the 45 TOPS NPU, the chip would be able to locally run a computer code generator, a music-generating AI, or even the OBS Studio subtitle generator.

“Snapdragon “Radical new AI experiences are emerging in this period of rapid development and deployment,” said Kedar Kondap, senior vice president and general manager of Compute and Gaming at Qualcomm.