Snapdragon X Plus leak hints at an affordable Windows processor

Qualcomm is readying a new processor for Windows laptops, a fresh leak has revealed. Called Snapdragon X Plus, it will be a more affordable version of the Snapdragon X Elite launched in October 2023. The company is testing two variants of the new chip likely with plans to release it later this year.

Qualcomm is testing the Snapdragon X Plus with an integrated 5G modem

Six months into its launch, the Snapdragon X Elite has yet to power any Windows machine. However, it may not be long before we see devices with the powerful ARM-based CPU from Qualcomm. The company has positioned it at the top tier of the Windows world—the same level as Apple’s M series chips for MacBooks. Early impressions are that it beats Apple’s latest M3 chips and Intel’s Core Ultra CPUs in power and performance.

As we wait for Windows PCs powered by the Snapdragon X Elite, Qualcomm appears to be working on a slightly less powerful version of the chip for more affordable devices. A few weeks ago, the German publication WinFuture discovered “concrete evidence” of four variants of the Snapdragon X Plus in Qualcomm’s pipeline. It has just learned that the company has been internally testing two of those for several months.

The two chips have internal identification numbers X1P44100 and X1P46100. The prefix “X1P” strongly indicates the “Snapdragon X Plus” branding (the Elite version is X1E). Qualcomm has been testing the chips with an integrated Snapdragon X65 5G modem for cellular connectivity. Unfortunately, no other information is available. Not even anything confirming that the chip is inferior to the Elite version. It’s an assumption based on the name.

That said, the publication speculates that the base of the Snapdragon X Plus may be the same chip as the Elite, which also has the same integrated 5G modem. Qualcomm could make it a deca-core (10 CPU cores) setup instead of 12 cores, though. It also planned an octa-core (8 cores) version but appears to have dropped the idea. The X series uses custom Oryon CPU cores developed by Nuvia, which Qualcomm acquired in 2021.

The new chip may debut later this year

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chipset for Windows laptops may debut later this year. The company may unveil it at its next Snapdragon Summit in October (the Elite debuted at the same event last year). The event will also bring its next-gen smartphone processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. It will be Qualcomm’s first 3nm chip and will power the next generation of Android flagships, including Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra.