Qualcomm is adding two processors to its lineup for laptops supporting Windows on Arm. At its Snapdragon Tech Summit in Hawaii today, the company unveiled the Snapdragon 8c and 7c, new CPUs for more mainstream, affordable Windows laptops running the company's processors. These will be lower-power alternatives to the Snapdragon 8cx.
The 8c (opens in new tab) is a successor to the Snapdragon 850, which the company used in second-gen Windows on Arm laptops, like the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 (opens in new tab). It uses a Qualcomm X24 LTE modem (X55 5G is optional), Kryo 490 CPU and Adreno 675 graphics. The company promises a 30% bump in performance over the 850. The 7nm chips is meant for fanless devices.
The 7c (opens in new tab) is a mainstream product that is designed to take on the cheapest Windows 10 (opens in new tab) notebooks. It uses a Kryo 468, Adrena 618 and an X15 LTE modem.
These won't replace the Snapdragon 8cx, the company's high-end processor. The 8cx hasn't been released in any laptops (opens in new tab)yet, though we know it's meant for Lenovo's upcoming Project Limitless 5G laptop (opens in new tab), as well as the Samsung Galaxy Book S, which missed its original launch date a few months ago.
We have seen the Microsoft Surface Pro X (opens in new tab) and its SQ1 processor, a variant of the 8cx. While it's not the most powerful performer in the world, our bigger issue is with a lack of Arm compatible apps on Windows 10. It's possible that this will enable a wider variety of devices, enticing developers to create for the platform. But with Windows 10 on Arm relying on emulation for many of its apps, even less power could be an issue.
