Qualcomm unveils X2 Plus processor for lower-cost notebook

Qualcomm has introduced the X2 Plus, a new laptop processor aimed at cheaper notebook computers.

The San Diego-based company is the largest maker of mobile phone chips and is expanding further into the PC market.

The X2 Plus comes in two versions — one with 10 cores and another with six — using Qualcomm’s Oryon third-generation design.

Both versions feature a neural processing unit intended to support AI software more efficiently.

This launch follows Qualcomm’s earlier Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme chips, which are typically found in laptops priced above US$1,000.

The announcement was made at CES in Las Vegas, where Qualcomm’s new chips will be compared to offerings from Intel and AMD.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Both X2 Plus chips use the same 80 TOPS NPU as X2 Elite and will power Copilot+ PCs (Microsoft’s branding for Windows laptops with on-device NPUs that enable AI features) at lower prices 1.
Rather than cut AI power for cheaper tiers, Qualcomm splits the X2 Plus by CPU core counts (6 or 10 versus up to 18 in Elite) and memory bandwidth (152 GB/s versus 228 GB/s) 1.
Qualcomm says the X2 Plus beats Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265U by 3.5x in CPU at the same power and by up to 6.4x in AI work 2.
Qualcomm is betting AI speed will sway more shoppers as Copilot+ features spread on Windows 11 devices.

Arm says over 90% of user time runs on Arm-native apps, but gaps remain in anti-cheat gaming software and some GPU heavy workflows face x86-to-Arm emulation hurdles 3 4.
The native catalog covers Adobe’s creative suite (Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro) and collaboration tools (Slack, Zoom, Teams) as ARM64-ready (64-bit Arm) while niche vertical apps trail 5 4.
CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) providers can meet demand with ARM64 Windows runners (hosted build machines) as GitHub Actions (GitHub’s CI/CD service) offers them, which helps teams build and test native Arm apps 4.
Enterprise software companies could stand out by listing ARM64 builds as Snapdragon X2 Plus laptops enter corporate buying cycles at $799-$1,299, where IT (information technology) teams prize battery life and manageability features like Snapdragon Guardian (Qualcomm’s enterprise-grade device security and management capabilities) 3.