finally a chip for cheap ARM PCs

When one of the biggest mobile chipmakers speaks, everyone listens. During the great technological rally that is CES, the American manufacturer announced the upcoming release of a new ARM processor for computers: the Snapdragon X.

As noted Techcrunchthis component is the third entering the range, after the Snapdragon X Elite and the Snapdragon X Plus. Its ambition is to reduce the number of PCs under ARM, or, as we know them more today, Copilot+ PCs.

Everything better than Intel

The manufacturer actually writes it in black and white in its press release, the Snapdragonwill allow the birth of PC Copilot+ sold around $600“. Obviously, CES obliges, the manufacturer has not given a price range in euros, but we can expect relatively similar prices, or slightly higher. Still, this should further lower the price of ARM machines; the threshold is currently around €800/€900.

On the technical side, the Snapdragon If all these numbers don't speak to you, just know that Qualcomm promises more performance, more autonomy and more AI features than computers under x86 architecture.

The vague ARM lens

On the connectivity side, we obviously find 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and the possibility of supporting up to 3 external screens (at 60 Hz). Not to spoil anything, Qualcomm also explains that the list of native ARM applications is growing day by day, to the point that “90% of time spent in front of a PC is spent on apps that run natively» on this architecture.

To go further
Windows has what it takes to finally make the switch to Arm: here is Prism

Little by little, whether in terms of price, software compatibility or technical prowess, ARM PCs are making their mark on the market. If, for the moment, Qualcomm has only captured 0.8% of the PC market in the third quarter of 2024, there is no doubt that the arrival of these cheaper chips and the emphasis placed by Microsoft on the transition from x86 to ARM will end up turning things around.