Home > CPU Comparison > Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) or Apple M3: what's better?

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) vs Apple M3

70 out of 100
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)
VS
67 out of 100
Apple M3
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)
Apple M3

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 3.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) with 12-cores against the 4.05 GHz Apple M3 with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (23)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between M3 and (X1E-84-100)
Advantages of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)
  • Supports up to 64 GB LPDDR5x-8448 RAM
  • Has 4 more physical cores
  • Around 32.6 GB/s (32%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More powerful Qualcomm Adreno X1 integrated graphics: 4.6 vs 3.5 TFLOPS
Advantages of Apple M3
  • More modern manufacturing process – 3 versus 4 nanometers

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)
vs
Apple M3

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) - 2341
Cinebench Scores (#107th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
File compression 1150 MB/sec 1260 MB/sec
Clang compilation 144.9 Klines/sec 94.7 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 338.7 pages/sec 264.5 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 416.5 Mpixels/sec 313.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 268.6 pages/sec 297 pages/sec
Background blur 67.7 images/sec 50.2 images/sec
Photo processing 117.6 images/sec 114.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 25 Mpixels/sec 12.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 10 & 438 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Integer math 71.9 GOps/sec 42.6 GOps/sec
Floating point math 106.9 GOps/sec 48.3 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 301M Primes/sec 231M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 34M Strings/sec 27.3M Strings/sec
Data encryption 16.2 GBytes/sec 11.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 219.6 MBytes/sec 225 MBytes/sec
Physics 1748 Frames/sec 1867 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 16.4B Matrices/sec 10B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 21 & 1563 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 34.9 PPW 35.6 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 434.6 PPW 590.8 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 708.8 PPW 953.3 PPW
Blender / Watt - 8.02 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-24 (Eggburt)Cinebench 2024127 / 794
Add View all (1)
Apple M3
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-22 (doannguyenmfs)Geekbench 6 CPU2991 / 11735
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-16 (darkknightSup)Geekbench 6 CPU2990 / 11498
Add View all (2)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) and Apple M3

General

Vendor Qualcomm Apple
Released October 24, 2023 October 30, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Snapdragon X Apple M3
Model number X1E-84-100 -
Integrated GPU Qualcomm Adreno X1 Apple M3 GPU
Rival Equivalent - Apple M3 Pro -
Successor - - Apple M5 (10-Core)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 12 4
P-Threads 12 4
Base Frequency (P) 3.8 GHz 4.05 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.2 GHz -
Efficient Cores
E-Cores - 4
E-Threads - 4
Base Frequency (E) - 2.75 GHz
Total
Total Cores 12 8
Total Threads 12 8
Multiplier 38x 40x
L1 Cache - 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 12MB (shared) 16MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors - 25 billions
Fabrication Process 4 nm 3 nm
TDP (PL1) 35 W 20 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 80 W -
Socket Custom Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature - 100Β°C
Laptop processors ranking (53rd and 69th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Qualcomm Adreno X1 Apple M3 GPU
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1500 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 1536 1280
TMUs 96 80
ROPs 48 40
Execution Units 6 160
TGP 30 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) +31%
4.6 TFLOPS
Apple M3
3.5 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M3 GPU (10-core) compared to Adreno X1-85

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5x-8448 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 64 GB 24 GB
Memory Channels 8 8
Max. Memory Bandwidth 135 GB/s 102.4 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) official page -
PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 12 -

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
1694 (80.2%)
418 (19.8%)
Total votes: 2112

Competitors

1. Apple M3 vs Apple M1 Max (4)
2. Apple M3 vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (4)
3. Apple M3 vs Apple M1 Pro (16)
4. Apple M3 vs Apple M2
5. Apple M3 vs Apple M1
6. Apple M3 vs Apple M2 Pro
7. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) vs AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (5)
8. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) vs Intel Core i9 13900H
9. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) vs Apple M2
10. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (34)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M3 or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100)?
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Who remembers M2pro July 14, 2024 at 09:10 AM
Rather get a refurbished M2 pro with a brighter screen, already 120hz and 16gb and 512gb to start for a bit more. And with double the igp to these slightly newer chips. X elite was meant to compete with m2 pro anyway for CPU.
+23 Reply
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Tushar Singh July 10, 2024 at 05:26 PM
All those fanboys saying, "Compare to M3 Pro." The price of the 16GB/512GB model is way higher on MacBook than Windows counterparts. As consumers, we compare what we get at a similar price, and not the exact specs/chip name, etc. Please be a consumer and not a fanboy.
+25 Reply
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Yeagerfolk June 20, 2024 at 08:42 AM
Increasing the single-core performance takes the most R&D and Apple is miles ahead in that, especially with the M4. Apple achieved this despite the clock speed remaining the same, by changing the architecture of the CPU. This is something that Android and Windows-side chipmakers, who are often perceived as subpar, would never do because they don't tend to make any architectural changes at all, especially Intel. These manufacturers only know how to add more cores and increase clock speed.
+22 Reply
Avatar
No mercy May 27, 2024 at 05:01 PM
Who thinks that this is over... they better think again. Snapdragon already has the X2 version that will compete with the M3 Pro, and X3, that will go after M3 Max. Most probably, it will have a bigger die size, etc. On the next CPU, I am sure they will focus on GPU. As of today, they sacrifice millions of transistors for NPU, which is great. By the way, I've seen the other day, a guy on YouTube saying that AI generated with Snapdragon looks like garbage. I must tell him, AI is what you teach; garbage in, garbage out. It's not about CPU design. Anyway, this is a milestone for the industry, and I can't wait to buy one. Good job, Qualcomm. Finally we have a CPU for laptops that will make work fun and beautiful for generations. I've been waiting for this day for so long!
+18 Reply
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0110111001101001101001 March 16, 2026 at 11:58 AM
You do realise by the time they launch X3, apple will have M6, where the BASE chip would outperform top spec by quite a margin. And thats forgetting M6 pro and max. There's no point in comparing the X2 or X3 to M3 simply because of price. The refurbished M3 models will offer better value and it performs quite similarly to this chip with the sole exception of multi-core, which still comes at the cost of power consumption (80 v 20 watts).
0 Reply
Avatar
NITHILAN May 22, 2024 at 10:52 PM
can't wait to see the battle of the century for the best power efficient processor!!! Apple will finally be forced to innovate more after a long time of expected growth, it's time we got a challenger. I wonder what amd and Intel will do; I'm guessing they will loose some market share idk.
+23 Reply
Avatar
Tantalus May 13, 2024 at 01:26 PM
Qualcomm still proving to be a mess in the laptop/desktop front, losing, quite clearly, in power efficiency to apple's underdog chip even though it just got outdated. It's a good thing AMD, Intel, and Nvidia will be able to sell ARM chips on Windows by the end of this year because Windows' getting crap thanks to their exclusivity contract with Qualcomm. Apple really squeezed everything from Windows' bullet to the foot. Anyone claiming that Apple had competition at the arrival of M1 is high on something I don't wanna smoke - and the Elite is still not taking the crown, not by a long shot. As a Linux user, it's a shame to that I have to be this patient over one company's bad decisions.
+26 Reply
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Willee March 28, 2024 at 09:58 AM
I mean, an 80-watt TDP for a mobile processor? What's the point then?
+36 Reply
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Six April 3, 2024 at 05:46 PM
It's better to have the option of something you may or may not use, than not to have it at all.
+33 Reply
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Alex April 27, 2024 at 01:17 AM
Notes on Snapdragon X Elite: - Benchmark results can be 5-15% higher if TDP is configured to 80W. However, currently, there are no such laptops on the market (default is 23W).
+23 Reply
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Mr x May 27, 2024 at 11:41 AM
Alex, The Lenovo Yoga has a 63W TDP for the Intel Core i7 Ultra. Also, the dGPU has a 60W TDP. So, 84W doesn't matter.
+6 Reply
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Jason Bourne February 29, 2024 at 11:20 AM
The only reason the Snapdragon Elite X won the multicore benchmarks is the additional 4 cores. It would be more accurate to compare that to the M3 Pro.
+27 Reply
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Six April 3, 2024 at 05:48 PM
It depends. Can I buy the Snapdragon for the price of the M3 or M3 Pro? If it's the price of the M3, I would compare it to the M3. If it's the price of the M3 Pro, then I would compare it to the M3 Pro.
+60 Reply
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Brunty April 18, 2024 at 04:52 PM
Six, Specs are real and names are made up. Pro or whatever we don't care the cost. We want to see like for like in specs.
+10 Reply
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mitchell June 14, 2024 at 09:36 AM
Six, Unless you're buying a Mac without all of the other hardware that comes along with it (you aren't) - this is an absurd point to try and make.
+7 Reply
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Joe January 5, 2025 at 04:07 AM
Brunty, Not all cores are designed the same. Comparing CPUs just because they have the same number of cores does not tell us the whole story. You're wrong. And by the way, the price does matter, quite a bit.
+1 Reply
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Prisma January 12, 2024 at 08:28 PM
Snapdragon allow 96GB of RAM Memory.
+24 Reply
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David May 22, 2024 at 01:50 PM
M3 Max allows 128GB, your point?
+5 Reply
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David Hater 101 May 28, 2024 at 11:44 AM
David, We're comparing M3 here Not max
+7 Reply
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David Hater Hater June 14, 2024 at 09:37 AM
David Hater 101, We're comparing to M3 because the person who made the article decided to do that. You're missing the point though cutie.
+10 Reply
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Joe January 5, 2025 at 04:16 AM
David Hater Hater, Why would you make that comparison? You really missed the point. And no one "made" the article, you can compare any CPU. How about comparing the M3 Max with the SD X Plus to reaffirm your superiority, sweetie.
+2 Reply
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bread November 2, 2023 at 12:52 PM
Why does it say the snapdragon x elite vendor is apple?
+29 Reply
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root November 3, 2023 at 04:31 PM
Thanks, we have fixed it :)
+15 Reply
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