Despite Qualcomm’s bold claims, the new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme isn’t the fastest laptop SoC on the market. Apple’s M4 Max continues to dominate in both single-core and multi-core performance, according to early Cinebench 2024 benchmarks.

Performance Showdown: X2 Elite Extreme vs M4 Max

Benchmark	Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme	Apple M4 Max	Winner
Single-Core	162 points	Higher scores	Apple M4 Max
Multi-Core	1,968 points	Superior performance	Apple M4 Max
Max Clock Speed	5.0 GHz boost	4.4 GHz (16 cores)	Mixed advantage
NPU Performance	80 TOPS	38 TOPS	Snapdragon X2
Core Count	Up to 18 cores	16 cores	Snapdragon X2

The Reality Check

In a reference laptop showcased by Qualcomm featuring the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip, it achieved a single-thread score of 162 points and a multi-thread score of 1,968 points at Cinebench 2024. Compared to Apple‘s M4 Max chip, Qualcomm falls short in raw CPU performance despite impressive specifications.

Where Snapdragon X2 Excels

While CPU performance lags behind Apple, the X2 Elite Extreme dominates in specific areas:

AI Performance: The new 80 TOPS NPU is the fastest in a laptop with 78% more TOPS than the previous generation 45 TOPS NPU, significantly outpacing Apple’s 38 TOPS Neural Engine.

Efficiency Claims: Up to 75% faster CPU performance at equivalent power levels while still delivering multi-day battery life represents impressive power efficiency improvements.

Technical Specifications

The flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme features up to 18 cores including 12 Prime Cores that operate at 5.0 GHz single/dual-core boost and 4.4 GHz all-core boost, with 6 “Performance” cores handling lighter workloads.

The new 3rd Gen Oryon CPU delivers up to 75% faster performance than rival chips at the same power level, while a new Adreno GPU architecture boosts efficiency by 2.3x compared to the previous generation.