Qualcomm: Some Snapdragon X Elite Laptops Will Come with 5G Modems
by Anton Shilov on June 11, 2024 6:00 PM EST
One of Qualcomm's indisputable strengths are its 5G modems – something which even Apple has yet to successfully ween itself from. And while Qualcomm is not integrating a modem into its first-generation Oryon-based Snapdragon X chips, the company is still looking to leverage that technology advantage via discrete modems that can be installed in Snapdragon X laptops.
To date, Qualcomm has won 23 laptop designs with its Snapdragon X Elite SoCs, and all of the leading PC vendors have introduced systems based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors. However, only some of them will be equipped with modems, the company detailed at Computex 2024.
While the technical rationale for this is very straightforward (not every vendor wants to buy and dedicate the space to modems), it's still a bit of a surprise in as much as Qualcomm has traditionally heavily pushed laptop vendors to include their modems. But as the Snapdragon X has entered the picture, the joint Qualcomm/Microsoft always connected PC (ACPC) initiative is taking a back seat – meaning modems are no longer being pushed nearly as hard. In its place, the two companies have pivoted hard to equipping mainstream systems with the hardware needed for local AI processing (i.e. NPUs), and with it, Microsoft's Copilot+ PC branding.
Laptop manufacturers, in the meantime, are breathing a sigh of relief, as this switch to emphasizing AI comes at a much lower hardware cost, since vendors don't need to buy additional discrete hardware. Qualcomm for its part has never fully disclosed the full cost of including a Snapdragon modem with a laptop, but the total cost adds up quickly. Besides buying a discrete modem, device manufacturers also need to buy and integrate a 5G-capable radio frequency front end module (RF FEM), as well as the all-important antenna. And mmWave support of any kind can add another wrinkle, as multiple antennas at different orientations are needed to get the best results.
And while not said out-loud, Qualcomm's premium positioning strategy for 8cx-based laptops has not paid significant dividends. Snapdragon X laptops are being priced much more competitively, as Qualcomm is aiming to capture a meaningful share of the PC market – and high-cost features like modems would drive up the final price tag.
Still, virtually all Qualcomm representatives I talked to at Computex were happy to argue that an integrated modem is a huge benefit for their PCs, as they can get fast connectivity almost everywhere in the world instantly and not depend on Wi-Fi or even their smartphones. So the dream of widespread 5G-capable laptops is not dead at Qualcomm; it may just be delayed. In the meantime, for laptop buyers that do need or want a 5G modem, there will still be at least a few premium laptop models on store shelves with the necessary hardware.
Source: Qualcomm
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MakaanPL - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
... And by "unlimited" in Poland I really mean that. There are offers with no formal bottleneck in the contract and transferring even a few TB per month is not a problem. All for that $25-$30. It's not blazing fast, though, as the base stations are often heavily loaded. Replyabufrejoval - Friday, June 21, 2024 - link
Next door in Germany getting a truly unlimited plan for consumers tends to be way more expensive, more in the €70/month range.But corporate plans are easily in the €20-30 range yet offer unlimited global roaming.
Big-T tends to cap bandwidths for cheap corporates to counter abuse at home (where I'm least likely to use 5G), but all caps are removed within the EU, which is why I tend to get way better bandwidth on 5G e.g. in France than on the corporate network there...
Too bad that on trains everything just sucks, while planes are still excluded from those data plans. Reply
dontlistentome - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
Those stupid XPS keyboards without function keys need to die a death like the Thinkpad X1s did before them.I'd be buying for my team if Dell pulled their finger out and fixed that. Reply
Eliadbu - Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - link
The XPS laptops have function keys but they are touch and can change the icon from function keys (f1, f2 ... f12) to media control (mute, vol up/down etc). Not the best design but you still have the functionality. ReplyRaduR - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
In my country 5G data is dirt cheap ! 2-5 EUR for virtually unlimted 5G data . That would be a huge selling point alongside 1 day battery life for work from home companies.Most business apps work in browser and trough corporate VPN anyway .
If they position it right they may sell milions.
I am aslo sure that it will be a missed opportunity as they will be hugely expensive WAY OVER cap-ex for any 1000+ employees so no one will even consider it.
Make it 700 EUR laptop with 5G and decent battery and it wil survive. But it will for sure be 1700 EUR and it will collect dust on shelves.
Retail does not buy 1000+ coporations also do not. So ..... Reply
GeoffreyA - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
That is cheap! Replymeacupla - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
This is more of an American (and Canadian) ISPs being unscrupulous problem because they get to run de-facto monopolies in their region. ReplyPeachNCream - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
Some laptops will come with modems.... Okaaaaay, thanks I guess. Considering you could purchase a computer 10+ years ago with a cellular modem installed, this isn't exactly a big deal. Sure it's 5G but thats just the inevitable march of technology. Replyabufrejoval - Friday, June 21, 2024 - link
Hmm, I got extra SIMs and unlimited global data from my employer, so I got myself a tablet with 5G some years back, because hotel WiFi was usually nightmarishly bad but 5G rather good.And using the phone as a WiFi hotspot can be a bit of a bother, when WiFi is overcrowded as it often is in my main travel locations (Paris and Brussels).
If 5G modems was an extra €50-100 I'd spring for it any day. Same for 64GB of RAM or 2 extra TB of SSD.
And of course I go for cable (2.5-10Gbit) in any office or home location, because I tend to have lots of data on those 2-4TB NVMEs that needs updates or copying pre and post travel.
Too bad all these vendors just want to duplicate the original fruity cult's extortion for what was pure commodity on x86. Reply