Qualcomm recently announced that it is built on TSMC's 4nm process and claims to surpass Apple's M2 series processor performance.Snapdragon X Elite processorAfterwards, Apple also announced that it would use TSMC's 3nm process to build itsM3 series processorsin response.
Compared to the Snapdragon X Elite processor, Apple's M3 series processors naturally have many advantages in using TSMC's 3nm process. At the same time, through the new CPU and GPU core designs, combined with the introduction of a new dynamic cache design on the GPU, display rendering and real-time ray tracing effects can be greatly improved. At the same time, the performance per watt is more than double that of the M1 processor.
The time of this press conference was deliberately chosen to be 5 pm local time in the United States, which happened to be 8 am Taiwan time. In addition, the data presented during the press conference was compared with not only its own M1 and M2 series processors, but also with 12 core design products of "specific competitors" (Note) As a comparison, it seems easy to guess that Apple is responding to Qualcomm's recently released Snapdragion X Elite.
Note:If nothing unexpected happens, Qualcomm will unveil the Snapdragon X Elite soon.
The biggest advantage of the M3 series processors lies in their use of TSMC's 3nm process, a process currently exclusively produced by Apple. This allows them to achieve the same CPU performance as competitors with a quarter of the energy consumption, or the same GPU performance with a fifth of the energy consumption.
As for the M3 design, it is only equipped with 4 sets of performance cores and 4 sets of energy-saving cores to form the CPU. In addition, it is also equipped with a 10-core GPU and a 16-core neural network computing engine, with a maximum memory capacity of 24GB.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite, by comparison, features 12 performance cores, two of which run at 2GHz for peak performance. While details of its Adreno GPU haven't been released, it's touted as capable of 3.8TFLOPS of display computing performance. Its Hexagon NPU design boasts 4.6TOPS of AI computing performance, enabling the computation of over 75 billion or 130 billion parameters of large, on-device natural language models, respectively. Memory capacity is also capped at 70GB.
This seems to indicate that the M3 can surpass the Snapdragon X Elite with only fewer computing cores and less memory configuration. It even provides additional M3 Pro and M3 Max specifications to emphasize its greater computing performance advantage over its competitors.
However, Qualcomm clearly has some secret weapons yet to be revealed. After all, the Snapdragon X Elite is clearly just the first step in adopting its fully in-house Oryon CPU architecture. Performance figures are likely based on comparisons with the M3, and it may even support higher computing performance through higher operating wattage.
If Qualcomm's previous hints at the "flexibility" of the Snapdragon X Elite's design are true, it's expected that new designs will be released next year, potentially including processors using a 3nm process. Qualcomm's advantages also include its own 5G network connectivity technology, an area where Apple clearly lacks a competitive edge and may even rely on Qualcomm for technical resources.
The two actually target different market groups
But overall, the two are actually targeting different user groups.
Compared to Apple's introduction of Apple Silicon processor designs into its own Mac and iPad models, which are tightly integrated with its underlying hardware and software ecosystem, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite, launched this year, clearly aims not only at performance breakthroughs but also includes in-depth collaboration with Microsoft and the creation of a completely new user experience through Snapdragon Seamless technology.
This includes deep collaboration with Microsoft on Windows operating system integration and the addition of compatible DirectX 12 API resources, allowing more Windows platform games to run on the Snapdragon X Elite hardware environment, while also attracting more game and software companies to port their works and services to the Snapdragon on Windows platform.
The Snapdragon Seamless technology allows users to more easily connect Android phones, platforms, or peripheral accessories such as wireless headphones with Snapdragon on Windows platform devices, thereby changing the traditional laptop user experience that has long been tied to the x86 architecture. This is obviously Qualcomm's next goal.
Next, let’s see how Intel fights back?
As Apple gradually strengthens its Mac ecosystem with Apple Silicon processors, and Qualcomm is also preparing to change the traditional Windows PC ecosystem with Snapdragon X Elite, the next step is to wait and see what Intel is expected to launch at the end of the year.The 14th generation Core series laptop processor, codenamed "Meteor Lake," incorporates artificial intelligence technology applications., whether it can drive a new laptop usage model and stabilize the existing market for x86 architecture processors.
From my own perspective, such competition can have positive momentum for the entire market ecosystem. In fact, it will provide consumers with more choices, so it will be a good development.
