Qualcomm Introduces First 7 Nanometer PC Platform

Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8cx Compute Platform, the world’s first 7 nanometer PC platform. New Snapdragon packs the new Adreno 680 GPU, the most powerful GPU ever designed by Qualcomm.

Doubling the memory interface from 64 bit to 128 bit wide, and with greater performance than previous platforms, consumers will benefit from enhanced experiences and graphics when creating and consuming content. The Snapdragon 8cx is currently sampling to customers and is expected to begin shipping in commercial devices in Q3 of 2019.

“With performance and battery life as our design tenets, we’re bringing 7nm innovations to the PC space, allowing for smartphone-like capabilities to transform the computing experience,“ said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager of mobile for Qualcomm. “8cx will allow our customers to offer a powerful computing experience of multi-day battery life and multi-gigabit connectivity, in new thin, light and fanless design for consumers and the enterprise.“

The Snapdragon 8cx features the new octa-core Kryo 495 CPU. With a larger cache than previous compute platforms, the Kryo 495 allows for faster multi-tasking, disrupting the performance expectations of current thin, light and fanless PC designs. The Snapdragon 8cx increases performance while using a fraction of the power required by competing solutions, allowing for multi-day battery life and always-on connectivity when consumers need it most. It marks the first time the Snapdragon platform is ready for Windows 10 enterprise customers.

Snapdragon 8cx is also equipped with Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, a technology suite that allows PCs built on the platform to deliver high definition Bluetooth wireless audio, and further increases the accessibility and choice of voice assistants like Cortana and Alexa for consumers using their PCs. With support for second generation USB 3.1 over Type C and third generation PCI-E for limitless peripherals, users can now connect up to two 4K HDR monitors. The X24 LTE modem featured in the Snapdragon 8cx is designed to help operators to fully mobilize their spectrum assets and extend the capabilities of Gigabit LTE.