Geekbench shared the percentage of processors that ran its Geekbench 6 benchmark in the past 30 days. Out of the 81,081 tests done on a Windows PC between June 16 and July 16, 2024, 5,304 were conducted on a device running the Snapdragon X SoC. It might be small compared to Intel’s 48,970 and AMD’s 26,807, but we must remember that these laptops launched on June 18.
The Snapdragon X isn’t the first chip designed for Windows on Arm, but it’s the first to gain massive support from Microsoft and its partners like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Furthermore, these chips are touted to have better efficiency than Intel and AMD offerings, with testing showing them to last more than 15 hours on a single charge.
Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros have lasted longer, at 17 hours, but they have larger batteries, 70 and 100Whr (compared to the 66 and 54Whr on the 15-inch and 13.8 Surface Laptops). Aside from the longer battery life, Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptops are the first to get the Copilot+ PC mark from Microsoft.
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Although AMD’s upcoming Ryzen AI 300 processors exceed the 40 TOPS minimum requirement that Microsoft set, it’s still not getting the Copilot+ branding at launch. Instead, Microsoft’s AI features will arrive on Ryzen AI 300-powered laptops later this year via a free Windows update.
However, the Snapdragon X launch didn’t go without a hitch. The most interesting Copilot+ feature, Windows Recall, was removed before launch because of its lack of privacy and security. Snapdragon X Elite laptops suffer compatibility issues, with Intel’s integrated Arc graphics performing way better. Many software developers still do not support on-device AI processing, making the Snapdragon X’s (and most new processors’) NPU cores moot and academic.
Nevertheless, the entrance of a new player in the Windows processor market is crucial for consumers. Much like how Apple silicon transformed the laptop market, pushing AMD and Intel to produce more efficient chips, the Snapdragon X will move the two largest processor makers to make more innovations for users who want a Windows PC; otherwise, they risk being overtaken by Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is still far from delivering the performance many enthusiasts and power users expect from their computers. But they’re making strides in that direction. Unless the Snapdragon X encounters some nasty issues that Qualcomm can’t address quickly, we hope the market share between these companies will eventually be balanced.
