Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 aims for MacBook‑like efficiency and local AI on Windows

Independent.co reports that Qualcomm used CES 2026 to show its new Snapdragon X2 family — the X2 Plus, X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme — aimed at premium and mid-range Windows laptops. The chips are built on a third‑generation Oryon CPU architecture that prioritises efficiency, the report says.

Qualcomm states the X2 Plus uses a 3nm process and offers up to 35 per cent faster single‑core performance while using 43 per cent less power than the previous Snapdragon generation. The larger X2 Elite and Elite Extreme add more CPU cores and higher top speeds, with Qualcomm saying the Elite Extreme can reach boost clocks of around 5.0 GHz in some configurations.

All three include the same neural processing hardware, capable of 80 trillion operations per second, to run AI features such as real‑time meeting transcription, search and file summarisation locally. Several early laptops were shown at CES: Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7x will be offered with X2 Plus or X2 Elite, HP and Asus plan Snapdragon models later this year, and Asus confirmed Zenbook flagship models will use the X2 Elite Extreme.

Key Topics

Tech, Qualcomm, Oryon Cpu, Asus Zenbook