Microsoft has recently introduced its latest Surface Laptop that comes equipped with ARM-based Snapdragon SoCs. These laptops are now available for pre-order, with shipments expected to begin in July. Therefore, it will be a while before we can evaluate the actual performance of the new chipset.
Benchmarking Insights
Hardware enthusiast HXL has shared some benchmarks for the new Surface Laptop, which is powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor. The data suggests that this processor could potentially rival Apple's M2 chip. The benchmark was conducted using CPU-Z on a Surface Laptop 7 featuring the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 SoC. Since CPU-Z is not available for MacBooks, HXL utilized a virtual Windows 11 environment to run the benchmark.
It is important to note that virtual machines can introduce performance overhead, which might affect the M2's score. Hence, this data should be considered with caution.
Performance Comparison
The Surface Laptop 7 achieved a significantly higher multi-threaded score (7,923.5 points) compared to the M2 running in the virtual machine (3,822.3 points). However, the M2 demonstrated a slight advantage in single-threaded performance (749.5 points vs. 686.0 points).
Future Prospects
The Snapdragon X Elite is reported to outperform current offerings from Intel and AMD. This benchmark provides the first real-world comparison with Apple silicon, indicating that Snapdragon X Elite laptops may be a viable option for those who prioritize thin-and-light designs and extended battery life, along with the flexibility of choosing between Windows and macOS.
Qualcomm also plans to offer official Linux support for the Snapdragon X processors, which will likely attract users who prefer open-source operating systems.
Overall, the benchmark suggests that the X Elite could be a formidable competitor to Apple's renowned M-series chipset. However, more data is needed to fully assess its performance.
