Qualcomm presents two new socs for laptops

Processor designer Qualcomm has presented two new socs for laptops at its own Snapdragon Tech Summit. The 8c will be placed next to the current 8cx, while the 7c is intended for cheaper laptops.

According to Qualcomm, the new socs should provide a breakthrough for Arm socs in the market for cheap laptops. The 8c is a slightly stripped-down version of the current 8cx with lower clock speeds of the Kryo processor cores based on Arm’s Cortex A76 microarchitecture. It is unknown in what other areas the socs differ. The GPU has a different type number, but it is not clear what differences there are between the two models.

The 7c is a smaller and cheaper soc with two Kryo cores based on A76. The 4g modem gets a downgrade to an X15 modem that is also in the recently presented Snapdragon 765. The 8x has an X24 modem for 4g, just like the 8cx. They enable faster download speeds. The 8c can be combined with a 5g modem, that is not possible with the 7c. Laptops with a 7c can run for prices from $250 to $450, Qualcomm says. In addition to Windows, manufacturers can also put Chrome OS on it.

TSMC manufactures the 8c on its 7nm process, Samsung makes the 7c on its 8nm line. Both socs for laptops should appear in laptops next year, Hardware Info reports. This year, Arm laptops appeared in the form of the Microsoft Surface Pro X and Samsung Galaxy Book S, among others.

Photos: Hardware Info

SoC Snapdragon 8cx Snapdragon 8c Snapdragon 7c