There’s a revolution in the making. Those of us who’ve been watching closely know that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips are rumored to be just around the corner. And they’re about to ignite a bomb in the world of Windows laptops.
That might sound like exaggeration at first blush. But Qualcomm has spent the better part of this year trotting around a demo unit with this chip, and the performance so far looks pretty astounding. Not only is Qualcomm claiming that its new chips will run circles around Intel’s latest Core Ultra chips — but it’s even pitting them against Apple’s M3. That’s right. There’s even a significant jump in AI performance via the chip’s neural processing unit (NPU).
If the Snapdragon X Elite chips are really as good as Qualcomm says, this could be as big of a jump as the M1 was for the MacBook Air.
That means we could soon be getting Windows laptops that are as efficient, powerful, and long-lasting as Apple’s MacBooks. That’s a big deal. Right now, even the best of Windows alternatives struggle to keep up with something like the M3 MacBook Air. Not only does raw performance fall short of the M3, but they’re not nearly as efficient. They alsoproduce a lot more heat and drain battery life like nobody’s business. And just to be clear: This is not a small gap to close.
Right now, the MacBook Air lasts over twice as long as its Windows competitors, despite being close in price. The MacBook Air is completely fanless too. My point? If these upcoming Snapdragon Elite X chip laptops are really as good as we’ve heard, they will be a major upgrade over the current crop of even the best Windows laptops.
Yoga Slim 7 14(.5) 2024 Snapdragon Edition pic.twitter.com/k29LupeWk6
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) April 17, 2024
It seems as if there will be lots of options too. Every major laptop manufacturer has signed up, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Microsoft, and more. Rumors say the new Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 will exclusively adopt the new chips, and some leaks have already revealed some of the new designs. It has not been announced when these other devices will roll out, but we know at least the Surface devices will likely be announced on May 20, the day before Microsoft Build.
Of course, I’m not saying that this first wave of Snapdragon X Elite laptops will necessarily be worth buying over their Intel counterparts. There’s a lot we don’t know, even beyond whether they live up to the performance and battery life claims. For example, Windows has a long, storied history of failing to properly support ARM chips, and although things have improved, we’ll have to wait to see how committed Microsoft and Windows developers really are.
There’s also the question of price. We don’t know how laptop manufacturers will price these new laptops, especially if they are being marketed as proper MacBook competitors.
However, I do know that if you’re in the market for a premium Windows laptop right now, it’s worth holding off to see how it plays out. We may be on the verge of a major turning point for Windows laptops — one that could make you quickly regret buying a laptop right now.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.