Move over Mac vs PC, a new battle is taking center stage. A series of ads from Qualcomm places the company's Snapdragon X processors squarely against the best from Intel.
"Here's a little intel on what's really inside," jabs one of the ads comparing a PC powered by Snapdragon to one powered by an "unnamed" CPU (that's clearly Intel).
One ad from Qualcomm focuses on figures, such as the fact that Snapdragon X chips run "at max performance" while Intel chips drop off in performance when unplugged.
That claim has merit, though some context is needed. While there are some PCs powered by Intel chips that drop performance to "as little as 55%," it's common to see much smaller dips.
That same ad highlights the long battery life of PCs powered by Snapdragon as well.
Another ad is more direct in highlighting the 55% performance claim, showing spouses, soldiers, and CEOs only committing 55% effort.
The final ad drives home the same point, showing how PCs running at 55% performance when unplugged would affect office producitivy.
Best Windows laptops: Is Snapdragon making a push?
People have dreamed of powerful and efficient computing for years, and many assumed ARM64 architecture would make those types of devices possible. The dream became a reality with the Snapdragon X series of chips.
The Snapdragon X Elite blew previous ARM64 chips away. The Snapdragon X Plus also delivered a nice midrange option that was also far beyond previous offerings.
Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden said the following about the Snapdragon X Elite in our ASUS Vivobook S 15 review:
"So, does the Snapdragon X Elite live up to the hype? In short, it absolutely does. This chip is a beast, outputting incredible performance that you can feel in almost every task. Whether browsing the web with lots of tabs, multitasking through lots of open apps, rendering video and audio, hosting a podcast, or even some gaming, the Snapdragon X Elite can do it all."
For a while, PC manufacturers were hesitant to fully embrace PCs powered by ARM64 processors. But things have changed.
The list of the best Windows on Arm laptops now includes devices from Microsoft, Samsung, HP, and ASUS. And of course, those PCs are all powered by Snapdragon chips (though we could see ARM64 CPUs from NVIDIA at some point).
Consumer-focused Surface devices, including the newly announced Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch run on Snapdragon chips. Microsoft's flagship computers, the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 also have Snapdragon X chips inside.
There are versions of the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 with Intel chips, but those PCs are built for business users.
Microsoft has put extensive effort into optimizing Windows 11 for PCs powered by Snapdragon chips. Developers and major corporations have also optimized programs, greatly expanding the library of the best native Windows on Arm apps.
Looping back to the ads from Qualcomm, that company's Snapdragon chips are the star of the show here. Any efforts from Microsoft would fall short without chips like the Snapdragon X Elite.
Now that Windows PCs powered by Snapdragon chips are in the spotlight, Qualcomm seems eager to show its processors can go toe-to-toe with Intel CPUs.
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