The first Snapdragon-powered Mac Mini rivals are here

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X series of chips for Windows on Arm last year, but these processors only landed in laptops at first. What if you want a desktop Windows machine with Snapdragon power? Well, you’re now in luck.

Qualcomm and Lenovo unveiled the first mini desktop PCs powered by Snapdragon X chips, namely the consumer-oriented IdeaCentre Mini x (1L, 10) and the business-focused ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC. Both machines sport a compact one-liter chassis, so they shouldn’t take up much space. They also run Windows 11 on Arm, as you’d expect.

Starting with the IdeaCentre Mini x, this desktop PC comes with a Snapdragon X (more on that later) or Snapdragon X Plus chip, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 1TB of NVMe Gen 4 storage, and a 150W PSU. The machine also has a host of I/O options, including DisplayPort 1.4a, HDMI 2.1, USB 4.0, full-sized USB ports, an Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi 7. Lenovo adds that this machine allows you to swap components, but didn’t specify which parts could be swapped out.

The ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC is a more business-focused proposition. Expect a Snapdragon X or Snapdragon X Plus eight-core chip, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to two SSDs. There are plenty of ports and connectivity options too, such as a headphone jack, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a support, full-sized USB ports, USB-C, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi 6E.

Nevertheless, a mini desktop PC powered by a Snapdragon chip could be great for people who want a power-sipping yet capable machine for productivity, casual use (e.g. web browsing and media playback), or media server capabilities. Desktop PCs with Intel or AMD chips still offer the best app compatibility and better support for games, but a Snapdragon desktop could also be handy if you need AI silicon for supported apps or if you’re worried about your electricity bill.

News of these mini desktop PCs also comes a while after Qualcomm quietly killed its own developer-focused desktop PC, so we’re happy to see this is finally an option. Expect to pay $849 when the ThinkCentre Neo 50q QC goes on sale next month. Meanwhile, the IdeaCentre Mini x will go on sale in April 2025 and will set you back $659.99.

A new chip is here for $600 Snapdragon laptops

Qualcomm also announced a brand-new chip in the Snapdragon X series, the imaginatively titled Snapdragon X (model number X1-26-100). This processor is aimed at $600 laptops, bringing Snapdragon-powered PCs to the mid-range tier. But it’s also found in the aforementioned Lenovo mini desktop PCs.

The Snapdragon X still offers an eight-core CPU like the Snapdragon X Plus eight-core processor but with a 3GHz peak clock speed and no single-core frequency boost. By contrast, even the least capable X Plus eight-core chip has a 3.4GHz peak clock speed.

The Snapdragon X and lowest-tier X Plus chip otherwise share a few features, such as 30MB of cache, a 1.7 teraflop GPU, and an NPU with 45 TOPS of AI power. The latter means your $600 laptops should still have the Copilot Plus designation.

What else to know about Snapdragon X?

Other notable features include AV1 encode/decode, 4K HDR video capture, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, optional 5G support via the Snapdragon X65 modem, LPDDR5X RAM support, and support for three external displays running at 4K/60Hz.

Qualcomm says laptops with the Snapdragon X chip will be available in “early 2025,” specifically mentioning Dell and Lenovo as partners. So, if you want a more affordable Snapdragon laptop, you should keep an eye on future announcements.

In saying so, our own Snapdragon X Plus eight-core benchmarks showed that Qualcomm’s less capable chip can rival Apple’s older M2-powered MacBooks when it comes to CPU performance, but Apple streaks ahead in GPU tests. You, therefore, shouldn’t be surprised if the new Snapdragon X lags a little further behind, but laptops with this chip should still deliver great battery life.