According to internal documents from The Verge, Microsoft plans to promote its future Windows laptops with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite CPU as faster than the MacBook Air with Apple’s most recent M3 chip. Compared to Apple’s Rosetta 2, Microsoft thinks its laptops would provide “faster app emulation.”
The Arm-based architecture of the October-released Snapdragon X Elite is similar to that of Apple silicon. Based on the Geekbench 6 benchmark tool, Qualcomm stated last year that the processor achieved 21% higher multi-core CPU performance than the M3 chip.
Several disclaimers apply. First of all, Qualcomm and Microsoft contrast Apple’s M3 processor, which is lower-end, with its M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, which are higher-end components. MacBooks that use Apple silicon also have the best performance-per-watt in the industry; on the other hand, laptops with fans are necessary for the Snapdragon X Elite since it will probably run hotter. The M1 chip update in 2020 brought in a fanless design for the MacBook Air. Since Apple owns both the hardware and the macOS software, it can also maximize the performance of MacBooks.
Still, Apple’s rivals are inevitably moving forward with laptops that run on the Arm processor. Later this year, on May 20, Microsoft intends to unveil laptops running on the Snapdragon X Elite, including the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6.