Qualcomm has said its new modem is up to 21% faster than Apple’s M3 in a marketing campaign it ran for the Snapdragon X Elite. Apple officials have corrected this in subsequent versions of their marketing materials, offering performance gains through updated 15-inch M3 MacBook Airs that Apple executives claimed benchmarked above any other PC on the market at all. This comparison reveals places where Apple’s old chips outperform their competition.
More About the Apple Performance Lead Over Snapdragon X Elite
Apple seems to be touting the performance of its 15-inch M3 MacBook Air, against the upcoming M4 Macbook Pros. The new marketing statements were pointed out first by Aaron (@aaronp613), with 9to5Mac following up. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, had 16GB of RAM and was equipped with a 512GB SSD.
On the M3 MacBook Air, which uses an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. When tested out using the Speedometer 3.0 benchmark running on Safari 17.5, a macOS version known as Sonoma at that date gave an edge to the M3 over the Snapdragon X Elite by around 40 percent in single-threaded performance benchmarks The company also states that its chipset is up to 25% faster in web browsing, tested with the Surface Laptop 7 using Chrome version 128.0.6613.113 on Windows 11 Home and a WPA2 Wi-Fi network.
While a single benchmark doesn’t definitively crown the M3 as superior to the Snapdragon X Elite, it does provide some insights. For example, high-end versions of Qualcomm’s flagship silicon can reach 100W of total package power, whereas the M3 Pro, which is more powerful than the M3, has a 42W power threshold. Additionally, the Snapdragon X Plus, a less powerful variant, suffers from significant battery drain compared to even the M2 MacBook Air.
Despite this, Snapdragon X Elite-powered devices remain strong competitors. If you’re seeking great value with excellent battery life and prefer macOS over Windows, the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of unified RAM and a 512GB SSD, priced at $1,299 on Amazon, offers a compelling option.
FAQs
What is the performance difference between the M3 MacBook Air and Snapdragon X Elite?
Apple claims the M3 MacBook Air is up to 40% faster than PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite.
What is the price of the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air?
The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD is priced at $1,299 on Amazon.
