Qualcomm excels in designing chipsets but struggles at naming them. It released the Snapdragon 8cx chipset for Windows on ARM devices at the end of 2018. Since then, it has released several “c” devices, with the higher-performance ones getting the “cx” suffix and the mid-range ones getting just “c.” The company has now reconsidered its branding and chosen to alter it to Snapdragon X Series.
This follows “extensive analysis” and consumer feedback that the “c” designations were too easy to mistake with Android-bound Snapdragon CPUs. Qualcomm highlights the “X identifier distinguishes our PC platforms from other Snapdragon product categories” as one of the many benefits of the new branding.
Qualcomm, what about your modems? They are also called Snapdragon X, such as the Snapdragon X75 and X72 from February. So be it. At the very least, the business promises a “clear, simplified tiering structure that assists users in navigating our platform capabilities from mainstream to premium,” which is a typical gripe about PC processors, GPUs, and mobile chipsets alike.
This rebranding is in preparation for the release of the new Oryon-based chips, which will represent a clear distinction between Snapdragons that utilize exclusively ARM-designed CPU cores and Snapdragons that employ Qualcomm’s in-house core. Again, this is for the Windows on ARM branch of the family; it is unclear whether or not Oryon will be available on phones.
The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 and 7c+ Gen 3 are the most recent members to the “c” family, both of which were introduced in December 2021. There have been numerous reports about the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4, but we now know that it will not be called that (maybe “Snapdragon X8”?).
The first devices powered by Snapdragon X Series CPUs are expected in 2024. There will be numerous tiers, ranging from 4-core CPUs to 12-core CPUs.
