For our second keynote of the day for Computex, we have the 4th Musketeer of the great PC powers, Qualcomm. Slated to be the most PC-focused of the four keynotes, company CEO Cristiano Amon will be presenting a keynote entitled “The PC Reborn.” And while Amon is no stranger to giving keynotes, this is slated to be his most PC-centric keynote yet, giving Computex attendees a clearer idea of how focused Qualcomm will be on the PC market with their new Windows-on-Arm SoCs.

The big focus for today's keynote is expected to be the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus SoCs, which Qualcomm announced over half a year ago, and has been touting ever since. Now, the first consumer devices based on these chips are just a couple of weeks away from shipping, so Qualcomm is in their final promotional push for their new Windows-on-Arm platform. As a result, Qualcomm should have a lot more hardware to show off, with final silicon and shipping SKUs already defined.

While Snapdragon X is not Qualcomm’s first effort to ship an Arm-based SoC for Windows devices – there are 3 generations of 8cx Gen 3 platforms that everyone is happy never to mention again – the Snapdragon X is Qualcomm’s most serious effort yet. At its core is the new, high-performance/high-efficiency Oryon CPU core, which combined with the rest of Qualcomm’s tried-and-true mobile hardware experience, the company is hoping to mold into a revolutionary Arm-based SoC for Windows laptops. The company is also counting on a decade of software development on Microsoft’s part to make the Windows-on-Arm ecosystem whole, not to mention as frictionless as possible.

Besides energy efficiency, Qualcomm’s other big push is on the burgeoning field of NPUs. The Snapdragon X NPU is rated to deliver 45 TOPS of INT8 performance, which makes it the first PC NPU to meet Microsoft’s hardware requirement for Windows 11 Copilot+ AI functionality. So Qualcomm is looking to leverage this time-limited opportunity to be the first to offer new functionality in the Windows space – a privilege normally reserved for Intel or AMD.


01:30AM EDT - The Qualcomm Computex 2024 keynote is about to begin. The company has 15 PCs running Windows on the display.

01:32AM EDT - The show begins with a recap of what Qualcomm is: a maker of SoCs for smartphones. Which is of course expanding its business with PC processors.

01:33AM EDT - Qualcomm is demonstrating a funny video with a laptop that runs out of battery. Well, the company is implying that Snapdragon Elite-based PCs will last much longer.

01:33AM EDT - Cristiano Amon is entering the stage.

01:34AM EDT - Apparently, this is Cristiano's first Computex keynote.

01:34AM EDT - I guess, with Snapdragon processors for PCs, Qualcomm will have to do many more keynotes at Computex.

01:35AM EDT - Qualcomm is changing from 'communication company' to a 'leader in compute', connected compute, of course.

01:37AM EDT - Qualcomm's chief executive says that the company is redefining PCs in terms of what is possible in productivity, creativity, and entertainment.

01:38AM EDT - AI is one of the key focuses of Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite X, so the company is highlighting this fact.

01:39AM EDT - The Snapdragon X Elite is 'built for the new generation' of PCs that will adapt to its user providing ultimate personalization.

01:40AM EDT - AI promises to transform interface and workflows and do a lot of other things that fundamentally change PC experience.

01:41AM EDT - Amon says Snapdragon Elite X processors will enable PCs with 'multiple' days battery life.

01:41AM EDT - Apparently, there are 16 PCs based on Snapdragon X Elite SoCs in the first wave.

01:42AM EDT - Also, desktops and tablets with Snapdragon are incoming.

01:43AM EDT - Windows with Snapdragon is a platform where innovation is happening, says Cristiano Amon.

01:44AM EDT - Satya Nadello video is now playing. Of course, he is talking about Copilot+ PCs. He says over 20 Snapdragon-powered PCs are incoming. Quite a significant number of design wins, I would say.

01:45AM EDT - Now, Amon is talking about generative AI revolution.

01:46AM EDT - AI is poised to become indispensable from modern PCs.

01:47AM EDT - Qualcomm is showing a video how a Snapdragon-based PC can make negotiations using AI.

01:48AM EDT - Or translate different languages in real time.

01:49AM EDT - Windows Copilot+ PCs are the fastest Windows PCs ever, according to Amon. Of course, when it comes to AI.

01:50AM EDT - Qualcomm focuses on the Hexagon NPU and its capabilities. AI should run all the time all day long,

01:51AM EDT - Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU not only delivers 45 INT8 TOPS performance, but does it very power efficient.

01:52AM EDT - Hexagon NPU is 2.6X more power efficient than Apple's M3 and 5.4X more power efficient than Core Ultra 7.

01:52AM EDT - A thermal image demonstrated by Qualcomm confirms this to a certain degree.

01:53AM EDT - Microsoft and Qualcomm worked as one team to deliver the new Windows platform, Amon says.

01:54AM EDT - 'A great moment for Microsoft and Windows,' says Amon,

01:55AM EDT - Now, a Microsoft rep says that the company has redesigned Windows to take advantage of the Snapdragon X Elite.

01:59AM EDT - Microsoft of course had to build a new ecosystem to make software for Windows Copilot+ PCs to take advantage of advanced AI capabilities of Snapdragon X Elite and other CPUs with an NPU inside.

02:00AM EDT - Apparently, Amon is wearing Copilot+... shoes.

02:00AM EDT - Time to talk about Oryon CPUs.

02:01AM EDT - These CPUs are 51% faster than competing processors.

02:01AM EDT - That was signle threaded performance.

02:02AM EDT - In multi-threaded workflows Snapdragon X Elite is 28% faster than an undisclosed competitor.

02:03AM EDT - S.Y. Hsu from Asus is on the stage to talk about the company's PCs with Qualcomm inside.

02:03AM EDT - Asus of course has collaborated with Qualcomm for years as it uses Snapdragon for its smartphones.

02:04AM EDT - The very first Asus PC with the Snapdragon X Elite is said to feature a 18 hours of battery life for productivity applications.

02:05AM EDT - Apparently, Asus systems with Snapdragon X Elite will come with Asus exclusive apps.

02:06AM EDT - Back to Qualcomm. Time to talk about battery life.

02:07AM EDT - Snapdragon X Elite PCs will have two times longer battery life than a Core Ultra 7 155H, according to Qualcomm.

02:08AM EDT - Now, Jason Chen, CEO of Acer is on the stage.

02:09AM EDT - Acer also has a long history with Qualcomm. But the company is particularly exciting to offer PCs featuring Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite.

02:09AM EDT - Acer's first Qualcomm-based PC — the Swift 14 AI — will offer 26 hours of video playback.

02:10AM EDT - Interestingly, Acer will also offer its 'AI apps' with its Snapdragon-based PCs.

02:11AM EDT - Back to Qualcomm. The company says that has worked hard to ensure that Windows apps run natively on its Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite processors.

02:12AM EDT - There are dozens of apps that will run natively, according to Qualcomm.

02:12AM EDT - Both Edge and Chrome browsers will work significantly faster on Snapdragon X Elite compared to AMD and Intel CPUs.

02:14AM EDT - Now, Qualcomm is demonstrating how djay Pro can isolate noises using Snapdragon's NPU.

02:15AM EDT - Enrique Lores, chief executive of HP, is on stage,

02:17AM EDT - He is also exciting to work with Qualcomm on Snapdragon X Elite-powered PCs.

02:18AM EDT - HP's OmniBook and EliteBook with Qualcomm inside are coming.

02:19AM EDT - Lores is showing one of the first PCs with Snapdragon X Elite.

02:21AM EDT - Time to take a photo with a Snapdragon-based PC.

02:21AM EDT - Back to Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon. He is now talking about creativity apps accelerated with NPU.

02:23AM EDT - DaVinci Resolve with Snapdragon X Elite apparently offers 3X higher performance than Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H in certain workloads.

02:24AM EDT - Samsung is also excited to work with Qualcomm on Windows Copilot+ PCs.

02:25AM EDT - Hexagon NPU and Oryon CPU set the new standard for performance and efficiency, the Samsung representative says,

02:27AM EDT - Qualcomm says that its AI Hub has over 100 pre-optimized AI models ready to be deployed.

02:27AM EDT - These models can be used to develop AI-enabled applications that will take advantage of Qualcomm's NPU.

02:28AM EDT - According to Cephable, Snapdragon NPU can offer higher performance than Apple's M3 and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3070 Ti.

02:30AM EDT - Qualcomm will also release Snapdragon Development Kit for Windows mini PC that will be available for pre-order later this month.

02:31AM EDT - Sam Burd, the head of Dell's client busines is on stage.

02:31AM EDT - AI-enabled PCs will revolutionize user experience, he says.

02:32AM EDT - Dell will have as many as five PCs with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite systems.

02:34AM EDT - XPS 13 can run a Lllama 13B model on the device.

02:36AM EDT - One more thing... Qualcomm PCs will feature all the features of mobile Snapdragon processors, such as security, loseless audio support, chip-to-cloud security and more.

02:37AM EDT - Also, 1200+ games were tested and optimized for Snapdragon E Elite to provide decent performance and flawless experience.

02:38AM EDT - He implies that AI and NPU can also be used for games. For example, for NPCs.

02:39AM EDT - A Lenovo representative is also here to talk about the company's Snapdragon X Elite PCs.

02:40AM EDT - Lenovo will offer two Snapdragon X Elite PCs: the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 and the Yoga Slim 7x.

02:41AM EDT - Lenovo's Snapdragon-based PCs will come with Lenovo-exclusive applications too.

02:42AM EDT - For example, the Lenovo AI Now.

02:42AM EDT - And the Lenovo Creator Zone generative AI application that runs locally on device.

02:44AM EDT - The Lenovo rep compares transition to AI-enabled PCs to transition from feature phones to smartphones.

02:44AM EDT - That's it for Qualcomm's announcements for today.

02:46AM EDT - The first Snapdragon X Elite PCs will be available globally on June 18, but we already know this.

02:47AM EDT - These systems can be pre-ordered today.

02:48AM EDT - That's it for our live blog of Qualcomm's Computex 2024 keynote. Thank you for being with us.

02:48AM EDT - And that's a wrap!

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  • yannigr2 - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    Companies pretending that AMD doesn't exist in their comparisons. That's good for AMD. It shows that at least they are better than Intel and Qualcomm here obviously prefers to compare with a company still at 7nm.
  • lemurbutton - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    They're comparing AMD in their slides. Look again.
  • Hifihedgehog - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    Exactly. AMD tested at 45-54W SoC cTDP in their slides. They compared Ryzen 9 AI 300 series at 45-54 W against Qualcomm’s thin and light vendor power specification, which has a 23 W MPC or max power ceiling for the entire device including onboard hardware, display, storage, RAM, and so forth. Therefore, they aren’t even remotely comparable in the way AMD tested unless we are talking a thick and heavy laptop. Instead, accounting for all of this, running the new Ryzen CPUs at a 10-15W cTDP would have been the honest and directly comparable thing to do but we never saw that. On the bright side, AMD’s upper hand against Intel is in no danger for now.
  • yannigr2 - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    They are comparing with Ryzen 7000 not Ryzen AI 300.
  • Dolda2000 - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    In fairness, it would be hard for them to get performance data for that to compare with.
  • yannigr2 - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    You mean that slide where the blue lines of Intel CPUs are clear to see while the somewhat dark red line for the Ryzen 9 7940HS is almost impossible to see? Or do you mean that ONE slide with the Speedometer test where they decided to test against Ryzen 7 7840HS and not against Ryzen 9? Please.....
  • Dante Verizon - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    Smoke and mirrors...
  • Hifihedgehog - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    What are you smoking in front of the mirror?
  • Terry_Craig - Monday, June 3, 2024 - link

    I agree. This is already smelling bad, not a single review after half a year of advertising. I think they are afraid of the negative criticism they will receive.
  • Alistair - Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - link

    I don't think that is a fair way to look at it. They are not just releasing hardware like with AMD or Intel.

    They have totally new software to get working, which means they need to wait until the last moment.

    That is being fair to them.

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