Forget Apple’s M4 MacBooks – Lenovo’s Snapdragon X Elite laptops have been spotted and could be the most exciting launch of 2024

A couple of incoming Lenovo laptops which have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor as their ARM-based beating heart have been glimpsed in photos.

Well-known leaker Albacore shared purported pics of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 with the next-gen Snapdragon chip and also the ThinkPad T14s Snapdragon edition.

As you can see, the shared images (above and below) look authentic, though we should always add a little seasoning with any leak (although Albacore is a trusted source in our books, so we’d be surprised at any fakery shenanigans, frankly).

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 will be a 14-inch (or possibly 14.5-inch) laptop, but otherwise, we don’t get to find out any specs – Albacore doesn’t have any further info on that front. 

Still, if the hype around the Snapdragon X Elite is anything to go by, this could be a great candidate for our list of the best laptops.

Analysis: What’s that on those keyboards? Oh yeah…

The Yoga Slim 7 looks nicely slim – pretty much compulsory given the name – and there is something else the photos give away, a noticeable addition in the form of the dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard deck. That’s something we’re going to see a lot more of going forward with Microsoft’s AI PCs, allowing the user to tap the key to summon Copilot whenever it’s needed.

The ThinkPad is, well, a ThinkPad, complete with the iconic red nub – officially called the TrackPoint center button – in the middle of the keyboard, and again that Copilot key is present.

With press images for both laptops already knocked up in all their glory showing off these shiny new portables, we can take this as a favorable sign that Snapdragon X Elite notebooks are on track for their intended June 2024 launch.

Another major range that’ll be packing one of these Qualcomm SoCs – or a custom version perhaps – is Microsoft’s Surface laptops, with consumer versions of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 set to be revealed at an event in May, ahead of a June release in theory.

In case you missed it, we’ve been getting seriously excited about the launch of the Snapdragon X Elite, having recently played with Qualcomm’s reference notebooks and experienced some impressive feats. Such as running Baldur’s Gate 3 at 30 fps, with medium to low graphics settings at 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. And remember – that’s with emulation (PC games or x86 apps in general aren’t compatible with ARM processors, so must be emulated), and really, that’s a remarkable result for a contemporary game.

Is Windows on ARM finally coming of age? It appears that Microsoft is betting firmly on this becoming a reality in 2024.

Via VideoCardz

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