Snapdragon X Elite vs M4: An In-depth Comparision

Ever since the introduction of new Surface devices, everyone has been wondering how will they compete with Macs, so today we’re going to make a Snapdragon X Elite vs M4 comparison.

Snapdragon X Elite vs M4: Here’s what you should know

Hardware specs

	Snapdragon X Elite	Apple M4
Instruction	ARMv9	ARMv9
Number of cores	8 performance, 4 efficient	4 performance, 6 efficient
Cache	L2 12MB shared	L1 192K per core and L2 16MB shared
Transistors	NA	28 billion
Fabrications process	4 nm	3 nm
Frequency	Up to 4.2 GHz	Up to 4.4GHz
TDP	23 W	10 W
iGPU	Adreno X1-85	Apple M4 GPU
Memory	LPDDR5x-8448	LPDDR5X-7500
Memory bandwidth	135 GBps	120 GBps
PCIe	4.0	4.0

While X Elite has more cores, M4 makes it up with the use of efficient cores. It also has a 3nm CPU making it more efficient.

Its TDP is more than two times smaller than on Snapdragon X Elite, so it will produce less heat. In terms of frequency, the M4 outperforms Snapdragon X Elite.

However, Snapdragon X Elite offers higher memory speed, and bandwidth, which may boost its performance.

Performance

	Snapdragon X Elite	Apple M4
Multithread	23405	25368
Single thread	3876	4503

According to CPUBenchmark results, both devices offer solid performance, however, Apple M4 outperforms Snapdragon X Elite in both multithread and single-thread results.

However, Geekench results paint a different picture with Snapdragon X Elite outperforming M4 for multithreading.

	Snapdragon X Elite	Apple M4
Multithread	15404	13386
Single thread	2898	3685

It’s worth mentioning that multithread results vary depending on the device, but most devices with Snapdragon X Elite – X1E84100 have outperformed M4.

Keep in mind that this is a varying difference and some models had higher differences while on others the difference was almost negligible.

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GPU performance

For multimedia and gaming, the M4 appears to be a better choice since it comes with 10 GPU cores and features such as hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing and Mesh Shading.

	Adreno X1-85	Apple M4 10-core GPU
3D Mark Wild Life Unlimited	6286	8673

During the benchmark tests, Apple M4 GPU outperformed Qualcomm almost by 27% which is noticable.

Qualcomm was outperformed by several M2 and M3 models, while Apple M4 GPU could parry some laptop GPUs, so it’s clear that M4 is the obvious winner.

NPU performance

In terms of NPU performance, Snapdragon X Elite is a clear winner since it can deliver up to 45 TOPS while M4 delivers only up to 38 TOPS. So, for AI-heavy features, X Elite is the way to go.

Conclusion

Snapdragon X Elite is gaining popularity, and this CPU is a better option for AI or if you want a better memory bandwidth.

As for performance, there’s no clear winner since according to some benchmarks M4 outperforms Snapdragon while in others Snapdragon is a better option when multithreading.

For multimedia, the M4 outperforms Snapdragon Elite X in every way, and with twice lower TDP, the M4 might be a better option for users.

To learn more, we have a great guide on Qualcomm CPUs that work with Windows 11 as well as an in-depth guide on Windows 11 and Qualcomm CPUs, so don’t miss them.

If you want to know how Qualcomm compares to Ryzen, don’t miss our Snapdragon X Elite vs Z1 Extreme guide. For gamers, we also have a great guide on Snapdragon Elite X gaming capabilities, so you might want to visit it.

To see how different Snapdragon X Elite processors compare, visit our dedicated guide to learn more.