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Qualcomm hasn’t shipped yet Snapdragon X2 Elite The processors announced at the annual Snapdragon Summit in September 2025 (expected to be announced by June), but in Consumer Electronics Show 2026 The company has launched its low-end Snapdragon X2 Plus, which is scheduled to appear in laptops by the end of March. These may be more popular than they might otherwise be because downgrading a CPU (which people expect to be paired with lower-end components and less memory and storage capabilities) can be a valid way to reduce its price. Laptops are increasingly expensive.
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Like their previously announced siblings, the X2 Plus parts are manufactured using a 3nm process node, down from 4nm for the previous generation Snapdragon X series; For comparison, Apple’s M series has been running 3nm since the M3, as has AMD’s Ryzen AI Max, while Intel’s Panther Lake generation uses the company’s 2nm 18A process. In general, the smaller the process, the denser the chip’s packaging, and the smaller distances signals need to travel — one reason companies are able to achieve faster clock speeds — but at the risk of overheating.
Snapdragon X2 series
| CPU Cores (Prime/Performance) | Maximum Frequency (GHz, Multi/Single/Performance) | Cache (MB) | GPU, clock speed (GHz) | Memory bus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snapdragon X2 Plus Hexa-Core (X2P-42-100) | 6/0 | 4 / 4.04 / Not available | 22 | X2-45, 0.90 | 128 bit |
| Snapdragon X2 Plus 10-core (X2P-64-100) | 6/4 | 4 / 4.04 / 3.4 | 34 | X2-45, 1.70 | 128 bit |
| Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-80-100) | 6/6 | 4 / 4.7 / 3.4 | 34 | X2-85, 1.70 | 128 bit |
| Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-88-100) | 18/6 | 4.0 / 4.7 (double) / 3.4 | 53 | X2-90, 1.70 | 128 bit |
| Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) | 18/6 | 4.4 / 5 (double) / 3.6 | 53 | X2-90, 1.85 | 192 bits |
In addition to the new operation volume, The X2 Plus chipset has a lot in common with the Eliteincluding new ones 80 NPU tops AI accelerator (up from 45 TOPS) with support for the new FP8 data type, improved graphics, “multi-day” battery life and other overall performance improvements claimed by Qualcomm. Keep in mind that while Qualcomm has the fastest-rated PC NPU chip — the Apple M5 is rated at 133 TOPS — Qualcomm doesn’t offer platform TOPS like Intel and AMD, so it’s possible that it may be ahead in some types of AI operations.
The chip launch appears to be a side event among the company’s other announcements at the show Be serious with robotswhich is a huge and relatively emerging market that Qualcomm is trying to gain a foothold in. The move away from laptops is also not surprising given that “budget” news is rarely big at CES, and component shortages, which are driving up the prices of consumer systems, are expected to stifle sales and supply of shiny new models.