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Lenovo, Asus and HP will be rolling out Windows laptops boasting the new Snapdragon X2 chips later this year
Alex Lee in Las Vegas Friday 09 January 2026 21:27 GMT- Bookmark
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The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X boasts a Snapdragon X2 Elite chip (Alex Lee/The Independent )
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I’m a MacBook devotee. Every time I’ve switched to a Windows laptop for testing purposes, I’ve come away feeling even less convinced. Some Windows laptops I’ve tested have been so slow and so lousy when unplugged from the power that I end up reaching pleadingly for my MacBook when I’m done.
In a bid to convince me to join Camp Windows, Qualcomm flew me out to CES 2026 to see its latest Snapdragon X2 laptops in action. That, of course, isn’t enough to make me switch (sorry, Qualcomm), but after seeing how far Windows on ARM has come, I’m more open to the idea than I’ve been before.
Late last year, Qualcomm announced two new chipsets – the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme – high-end chips designed for premium Windows laptops. The big new addition announced at CES 2026 was the Snapdragon X2 Plus – the more mid-range chip in the line-up. It offered the same focus on efficiency, but was designed for more budget laptops.
The three chips are based on a third-generation Oryon CPU architecture. It’s a very different philosophy from Intel and AMD. They’re more Apple silicon-like than ever. While many of its competitors are focused on sheer brute power with impressive benchmarking scores, Qualcomm’s new X2 chips keep things nimble, so that your laptop will feel fast and responsive, even when it’s not plugged in.
On the inside, Snapdragon X2 Plus is built on a 3nm manufacturing process. That basically means they can do more while using less energy. It’s the same reason why MacBooks made with Apple silicon can last for hours and hours. Qualcomm says the X2 Plus delivers up to 35 per cent faster single-core performance than the prior Snapdragon generation while using 43 per cent less power.
The larger Snapdragon X2 Elite and Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chips offer even more CPU cores and higher top speeds than previous Snapdragon silicon, with Qualcomm stating the Elite Extreme is even capable of reaching boost clocks of around 5.0 GHz in some configurations.
The best part, in my opinion, is that all three chips include the same neural processing hardware, meaning they’re capable of 80 trillion operations per second, so the fancy new AI-related features, such as real-time meeting transcription, search, and file summarisation, can all run locally, rather than relying on the cloud. It’s an experience I’ve come to expect from a MacBook, but not a Windows laptop.
Several of the first Snapdragon X2 laptops were shown off at CES 2026. Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7x will be available with either the Snapdragon X2 Plus or Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, while HP and Asus are also rolling out Snapdragon-powered laptops later this year. Asus has also confirmed that its flagship Zenbook models will use the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme. Qualcomm says the first Snapdragon X2 Plus laptops will be available in the first half of 2026. Prices have yet to be announced, but they’re expected to be cheaper or in line with the price of a MacBook Air.
To show what these chips can actually do, Qualcomm demoed Snapdragon laptops running creative projects at CES, from music production apps to image editing – all chugging along smoothly and in a snap.
I went hands-on with a few of these machines on the show floor, including the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X. While I don’t know if any of them are really a MacBook killer, some feel closer than ever to an Apple laptop in terms of how they run. Super quiet, lightweight, some of the ones I’ve handled were as cool as a cucumber when running creative apps. It’s early days, but initial battery life estimates put Snapdragon X2 laptops a notch above most Windows machines.
You’ll still find better compatibility for certain apps on non-ARM PCs, but that gap is starting to close. Qualcomm announced at CES that it’s continuing to work with Adobe to improve native support and performance for its creative apps on Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops, for example.
So, could a Snapdragon X2 laptop replace my MacBook? I’ll have to test one out as my daily driver to offer a verdict like that. It might be tricky to tempt me away, but Snapdragon’s new series of chips could eventually lead me to that point, especially with their superior AI features.