The New Snapdragon X Elite Laptops Are Great, But They

Key Takeaways

Apple may have a more mature ARM platform, but Snapdragon X Elite laptops offer great efficiency and performance.
Some apps like Premiere Pro and VPNs don’t work on Snapdragon laptops yet. Wait for updates before purchasing.
Gaming on Snapdragon laptops may not be great, but some popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are playable. Remember to manage your expectations.

Windows on ARM laptops are finally taking off, and it’s mostly thanks to the new Snapdragon X Elite chips. These new devices feature incredible efficiency, performance, and battery life. With Microsoft trying to usher in an era of AI PCs, these laptops also ship with Copilot+. There’s no doubt in my mind that a few of the newly released Snapdragon laptops will end up on our best laptops list.

These new PCs certainly paint a rosy picture, and there is plenty to be excited about. However, before you dive in head first and spend over a grand on these devices, there are some potential drawbacks worth considering. Here are a few reasons why some of you might want to pause before jumping on the Snapdragon bandwagon.

Microsoft Copilot+: Everything you’ll be able to do with your new Snapdragon X Elite PC

Microsoft has unveiled its vision for AI PCs, and it’s called Copilot+

Some of your favorite apps won’t work

NordVPN, Premiere Pro, and Avast to name a few

App support for Windows on ARM is a lot better now than it was a few years ago. Various web browsers such as Opera, Chrome, and Vivaldi work great, and apps like Slack and DaVinci Resolve also now have native ARM versions. There’s a lot of interest this time around for ARM, and the app support will only get better. However, if you’re thinking of buying a Snapdragon-powered laptop right now, keep in mind that some apps won’t work immediately.

If you use a VPN for work and plan on buying a Snapdragon laptop, I would hold off.

For example, major VPN providers such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN don’t have native ARM applications yet. Making matters worse, you can’t even install the x86/x64 versions of these apps and use the Prism Emulator to run them. The same is also true for a few other VPN providers. All of them say they’re working on native ARM builds, but if you use a VPN for work and plan on buying a Snapdragon laptop, I would hold off.

Similarly, Adobe Premiere Pro, the most popular video editing program on the market, does not work yet. Previously, you could install an x86 version of Premiere Pro from the Creative Cloud, but you can’t do that now. The same is true for After Effects. Adobe states that the native ARM versions will come later this year.

If you do want to edit videos, you could use the ARM-native app for DaVinci Resolve instead. Unfortunately, the app is in Beta right now, so expect performance issues and a buggy experience while editing 4K videos. We also found that the Windows Subsystem for Android does not work on the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7.

The gaming experience isn’t great

But hey, Cyberpunk is playable somehow

An image showing a screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 phantom liberty gameplay with two people sitting at a bar.

The Snapdragon laptops are meant to be efficient everyday devices, so they’re definitely not intended for intense games. However, Qualcomm was heavily talking up gaming performance and showing off gaming demos to people in person before the release. Naturally, people started building expectations of running some of their favorite games just like they would on their Intel or AMD laptops.

Some games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, Rocket Leagueand Overwatch 2 run well. Most games are compiled for x86 devices, so Windows uses the Prism Emulator here to run them properly. Unfortunately, a lot of games won’t run on these devices. For example, popular titles such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzoneand League of Legends are completely unplayable. Not only are these titles unplayable, but some of them outright refuse to launch.

Now, I get that not everyone wants to game on their thin and light laptop, but that’s not the point here. The issue is that all the games I mentioned work fine on Intel or AMD laptops with the latest chips. With both companies gearing up to release new mobile chips with improved graphics this year, the performance is only going to get better. For ARM, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Copilot+ is a swing and a miss

None of the AI features are useful right now

While battery life, performance, and efficiency are all major talking points for the Snapdragon X Series, we can’t forget about Copilot+. Microsoft was heavily promoting this AI suite for the new Snapdragon laptops, but it turns out that it’s more disappointing than anything. The main feature was Recall, but due to a PR and security disaster, that feature is now removed. We don’t know when it will return, but it’s not available during the Copilot+ PC launch. That only leaves us with features like Cocreator, Live Captions, and Windows Studio Effects.

You can probably guess where I’m going with this, but none of these features are great. Cocreator lets you combine a text prompt and rough sketch to create an AI-generated image. It’s fast, works in real time, and is an all-around cool party trick — but that’s about it. I think people who want to draw would rather put in the effort in real drawing applications rather than rely on AI. I hope art retains its human spirit in this AI landscape, but that’s an entirely different discussion.

As for Windows Studio Effects, it’s fine. The issue is that you can already use camera and microphone effects in most meeting software, so it’s a bit redundant. Finally, Live Captions is useful sometimes, but the translation capabilities were not great in our early impressions. Needless to say, you should not buy these new PCs for Copilot+.

3 reasons you shouldn’t buy an AI PC just to get the latest Copilot+ features

The new lineup of Snapdragon X laptops look fantastic, but if you’re buying them for Copilot+, you’re doing it all wrong.

Apple does it better for some people

The ecosystem and efficiency are hard to beat

As a longtime Windows user and avid supporter of new hardware, it pains me to say this, but most people will be happier with a MacBook. Qualcomm has made great strides with their X Series chips, especially considering that the laptops powered by these SoCs deliver identical performance while running off the internal battery. Efficiency is better, battery life is better, and the performance is great.

Unfortunately, while there may be enough to give Apple some serious competition, I don’t think it’s enough yet to sway loyal Apple fans away from their MacBooks. With Apple Silicon, the company has a more mature ARM platform, and most of the apps just work. Initial tests also show that the M3 chips are still more efficient than Snapdragon, but you’ll have to wait for further testing from us for more concrete results.

Then there’s the walled garden. Apple’s ecosystem tightly knits their devices and features together, and this creates a very seamless experience and workflow. Features such as Continuity, Handoff, and AirDrop allow Apple devices to work together beautifully. On top of that, we can’t forget that Apple Intelligence is also on the way.

Despite all of this, there’s plenty to like about Snapdragon X laptops

I’m not downplaying the significance of Snapdragon X Elite. After all, it’s quite a paradigm shift for Windows on ARM. Despite issues with gaming performance and the fact that Copilot+ is unimpressive right now, there are plenty of reasons you should buy a Snapdragon-powered laptop.

For example, if you’re looking for a thin and light laptop that’s competitive with the MacBook Air, the Surface Laptop 7 is a great choice. It has stellar battery life, a gorgeous 120Hz touchscreen, and double the RAM of the base MacBook Air. Just be prepared for some of your games and apps to not work immediately. With that said, I’m confident that support for more apps will improve soon.