Snapdragon X2 Elite: 3nm Tech, Up To 5.00GHz, 18 Cores

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Qualcomm announced not just one but two major chipsets alongside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. These new processors are called the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and the Snapdragon X2 Elite. Both leverage the 3nm manufacturing process.

Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme – Qualcomm’s Most Powerful Chip to Date, Competing with Apple’s M4 Max

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme has a single part number: X2E-96-100. It features a total of 18 cores—12 Prime and 6 performance cores. This is the first ARM-based chip to reach a frequency of 5.00GHz, though this speed can only be achieved with one or two active cores. Achieving these speeds in notebooks requires significant cooling.

Qualcomm has officially announced the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and the Snapdragon X2 Elite

The total cache is 53MB. The Prime cores can run at a maximum of 4.40GHz, while the performance cores max out at 3.60GHz. The new Adreno GPU operates at 1.85GHz, and the Hexagon NPU runs at 80TOPS. RAM support remains at LPDDR5X with bandwidth increased to 228GB/s.

Snapdragon X2 Elite – Two Variants with Different Core Counts and Cache

There are two variants of Snapdragon X2 Elite: X2E-88-100 and X2E-80-100. The most powerful variant has 18 cores (12 Prime, 6 performance), while the less powerful variant has 34MB cache with a 12-core configuration.

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October 8, 2025

Both chipsets’ graphics processors operate at 1.70GHz and both have an 80TOPS Hexagon NPU. They support LPDDR5X RAM with memory bandwidth reaching up to 152GB/s.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is designed for ultra-premium PCs, handling advanced AI experiences, complex data analytics, professional media editing, and scientific research. It provides ultimate power users, experienced creators, and professional producers with the capability to run their demanding workloads on thin and light laptops while plugged in or mobile.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme offers up to 75% faster CPU performance than competitors at ISO power, paired with a new Qualcomm Adreno GPU that provides a 2.3x increase in performance per watt compared to the previous generation. The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU features 80 TOPS of AI processing—making it the world’s fastest NPU for laptops—to enable concurrent AI experiences in Copilot+ PCs.

The first wave of laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite will arrive in H1 2026, but no specific companies or their respective machines have been mentioned yet.