Apple M4 vs Snapdragon X Elite: Can Qualcomm Keep Up?
May. 8, 2024Apple has once again one-upped Qualcomm by releasing its latest silicon, Apple M4, before the Snapdragon X Elite debut. The newApple M4chipset has been introduced with the OLED iPad Pro. However, we are interested in comparing the Apple M4 chipset with the upcomingSnapdragon X Eliteprocessor for Windows PCs. So in this article, I extensively look at their CPU, GPU, and NPU/Neural Engine, and try to find out who takes the lead in consumer chipsets. On that note, let’s begin.
We have updated the frequency specification of Apple M4 based on the recently surfaced Geekbench listing. In addition, we have added the Geekbench score of the Apple M4 chipset into our analysis.
Apple M4 vs Snapdragon X Elite: Specs Comparison
Glance over the specs comparison between Apple M4 and Snapdragon X Elite to understand the difference between the two chipsets.Apple M4Snapdragon X EliteFabrication ProcessTSMC’s 2nd-gen 3nmTSMC’s 4nmTransistors28 billionNot knownCPUCores9 CPU cores3 performance + 6 efficiency10 CPU cores4 performance + 6 efficiency12 CPU cores8 performance + 4 efficiency cores10 CPU cores (Snapdragon X Plus)6 performance + 4 efficiency coresGPU Cores10 GPU coresHW Ray TracingHW Mesh Shading6 Adreno GPU cores (likely)4.6 TFLOPsFrequencyUp to 4.4GHz3.8GHz; Dual-core boost up to 4.2GHz3.4GHz; Dual-core boost up to 4.0GHz3.4GHz (X Plus); No dual-core boostTDPNot known yet35W to 82W (likely)Neural Engine16 cores; 38 TOPSHexagon NPU; 45 TOPSUnified Memory (RAM)8GB and 16GBUp to 64GBMemory Bandwidth120 GBps135 GBpsRAM TypeNot known yetLPDDR5XOthersAV1 decodeAV1 encode and decode
Apple has packed 3 performance and 6 efficiency cores in the first variant and 4 performance and 6 efficiency cores in the second variant. While Apple has reduced the performance cores, it has clocked the Apple M4 CPU at a mighty 4.4GHz.
As for the Snapdragon X Elite, it comes in four different variants: three have 12 CPU cores and one has 10 CPU cores which is theSnapdragon X Plus. The Qualcomm PC chip is fabricated on TSMC’s mature 4nm process node. Its peak frequency canreach up to 3.8GHzwhich is much lower than Apple M4’s max clock speed. Qualcomm also offers a dual-core boost of up to 4.2GHz on the top-end variant, but it’s still below M4’s 4.4GHz clock speed.
If we compare the Snapdragon X Plus with the base Apple M4 (given that both have 10 CPU cores), the former delivers a peak frequency of up to 3.4GHz having no benefit of dual-core boost to amp up its processing speed. In contrast, the base Apple M4 can achieve top clock speeds of up to 4.4GHz, significantly widening thefrequency gap by 1000MHz.
The performance difference is evident when we compare the Geekbench scores of both chipsets. The leakedGeekbench score of Apple M4shows that it achieved a monumental score of 3,810 in the single-core test, outperforming all Snapdragon X Elite variants. The Qualcomm reference device running the top-tier variant (X1E-84-100) scored 2,944 in the single-core test. And the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge (X1E-80-100) scored 2,785 in the single-core test.
In the multi-core test, the base Apple M4 scored 14,541 with just 10 CPU cores (4P +6E) whereas the top-end Snapdragon X Elite variant with 12 CPU cores and double the performance cores (8P+4E), scored 15,422, leading with a 6% margin. When compared against the X1E-80-100 variant (13,925 in multi-core), Apple again takes the lead by 4%.
It’s amply clear that Apple has once again demonstrated its supremacy in chip designing.
It’s amply clear that Apple has once again demonstrated its supremacy in chip designing. The Apple M4 CPU is highly-performant while drawing less power and M4’s performance-per-watt metric is off the charts. We don’t know whether the improvements can be attributed to the ARMv9 architecture or TSMC’s N3E process node, but Apple has a substantial lead over Qualcomm in the CPU category.
Coming to GPU, Apple has built upon the next-gen GPU architecture introduced with the M3 family last year. The Apple M4 packs 10 GPU cores and brings flagship features likehardware-accelerated Ray Tracingand Mesh Shading for a rich gaming experience. It also supports dynamic caching for better utilization of the GPU.
On the other hand, the Adreno GPU on Snapdragon X Elite is said to come with just6 GPU cores. It’sdecidedly a weaker GPUwhen compared to Apple’s M-series GPUs. The Adreno GPU doesn’t bring HW-accelerated Ray Tracing either.
Qualcomm says its Adreno GPU can performup to 4.6 TFLOPSon the top-end X Elite variant. While Apple has not disclosed the figure for the M4 GPU, the older M2 GPU (10 cores) can deliver up to 3.6 TFLOPS. And according to Apple, the new M4 GPU is nearly 4x more powerful than the M2 GPU, as we noted in ourcomparison between Apple M4 and M2.
The multi-fold improvement might not reflect in compute scores, but Apple’s GPU on the M4 is really a powerhouse, and Qualcomm needs to up its game in the GPU department.
Next, we come to NPU, or what Apple says, a Neural Engine. The M4 Neural Engine has 16 cores and it can perform up to 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS). In this regard, the Hexagon NPU on the Snapdrag0n X Elite candeliver up to 45 TOPSwhich means Qualcomm has the lead in AI compute.
However, the TOPS figure is meaningless if we don’t consider the type of operations and precision. Qualcomm’s 45 TOPS figure isbased on INT8(8-bit integer operations) and Apple has also calculated the 38 TOPS on INT8, as confirmed byBen Bajarin. It means Qualcomm has indeed outranked Apple in the AI compute race.
Besides the hardware prowess, it must be noted thatsoftware optimization and memory bandwidthplay a crucial role in fully leveraging the NPU. At this point, Apple has developed its MLX framework and CoreML for Apple Silicon to leverage its Neural Engine and it’s being widely used by developers as well. Qualcomm is putting effort into itsAI Stack, but it needs more support and optimization after the X Elite debut.
The base Apple M4 has a memory bandwidth of 120 GBps whereas the Snapdragon X Elite supports LPDDR5X memory which can deliverspeeds up to 135 GBps. The upcoming M4 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants will obviously offer better speeds, but if we compare the base variants, you will get slightly better memory speeds on Snapdragon X Elite.
Apart from that, Apple has also included hardware-accelerated AV1 decode support in M4’s Media Engine, but it doesn’t have AV1 encoding yet. On the other hand, Qualcomm has added bothAV1 encoding and decodingon the Snapdragon X Elite. This video codec draws less power while watching high-resolution videos.
Apple decided to release its M4 chipset just before the Snapdragon X Elite debut scheduled forMay 20. The move is seen as a strategy by Apple tokeep up with its healthy leadin consumer chipsets, outranking Qualcomm, and x86 players like Intel, and AMD.
And from our analysis, we conclude that the Apple M4 does have a substantial lead in both CPU and GPU performance. The Snapdragon X Elite is the closest contender and rivals the M3, but it’sstill behind the M4 by a wide margin. Especially, in terms of performance-per-watt, Apple has showcased superior efficiency than the competition. In the NPU department though, Snapdragon X Elite packs a punch.
We will run more benchmark tests to ascertain the performance gap between the two chipsets and come to a definitive conclusion. Meanwhile, what do you think about Qualcomm’s challenge to Apple? Let us know in the comments below.
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