Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon laptop chip is slower than Apple M3 in single-core, and less power efficient

Qualcomm has been touting the performance characteristics of its new Snapdragon X Elite series of ARM chips for a while, which finally debuted this week inside the new Copilot+ PC’s (albeit without the fancy AI Recall feature, which has been delayed following security concerns).

While reviewers have more testing to do, the initial benchmarks and results paint a mixed bag. While the 12-core CPU Qualcomm chips are posting higher multi-core scores than the 8-core CPU M3 chip found in Apple’s MacBook Air, the M3 is still unbeaten on single core. That means for many tasks, the MacBook Air will still be faster. The M3 chip is also more power efficient than the X Elite …

Results vary by which synthetic test you look at, of course. On raw Geekbench numbers, the Snapdragon X Elite in the new Microsoft Surface Pro is clocking in at around 2,800 on single core, and 14,300 on multi-core. The M3 Air comfortably beats in single core, scoring well above 3,000. Its multi-core score averages around 12,000, or about 20% below the Microsoft Surface.

Power efficiency testing is more complicated, as it depends on test environment and the exact chip in question; there are several variants of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip that run at different clock speeds. However, one test from NotebookCheck showed that power usage for the X Elite 78 when running Cinebench was around 14 W, compared to 10 W for the M3.

Microsoft and Qualcomm have been emphasizing comparisons to the MacBook Air in their marketing messaging.

In terms of core count and power efficiency characteristics, though, the Snapdragon X Elite is in some ways closer to the Apple M3 Pro chip found in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Comparing the Snapdragon to the M3 Pro at a normalized power draw, it is likely the Apple chip architecture would post equal or higher multi-core benchmark scores too.

On top of all this, remember that the Apple M3 generation is already somewhat ‘old’, as the company has already started its transition to M4. We are expecting M4 Mac laptops to start shipping later this year. The performance of the new iPad Pro has already given us a glimpse of what to expect: the M4 iPad Pro trounces the Snapdragon X Elite on Geekbench in both single-core and multi-core, and that’s in a fan-less tablet form factor.

Overall, while Apple Silicon may still hold the crown, it’s fair to say the latest generation of Qualcomm ARM chips for PC has closed the gap significantly. Since 2020 with the M1, Apple’s laptops have been unassailable on performance and battery life. With the new range of Copilot+ PC’s, there is now genuine competition from the Windows laptop world.