The Snapdragon X2 Elite is a high-performance chipset that offers significant upgrades over its predecessor. CPU and GPU performance have risen sharply, and so has AI performance. The transition to a 3nm node addresses the first-gen’s weakness, while also delivering excellent power efficiency.
With major upgrades, the Snapdragon X2 Elite rivals some of the most powerful chips in the market, including the Apple M5. Both chips deliver top-tier performance with a strong focus on battery backup. It’s interesting to see how these two chips fare against each other. Can the Snapdragon X2 Elite finally outclass Apple’s long-standing domination in single-core performance?
Note: There exists multiple variants of Snapdragon X2 Elite. For this comparison, we’ll focus on the top version of X2 Elite (X2E-90–100) compared with the standard Apple M5 (10 core CPU/10 core GPU).
Let’s begin with the spec sheet.
| Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90–100) | Apple M5 (10 core CPU/10 core GPU) | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | September 2025 | October 2025 |
| Process Node | 3nm (TSMC) | 3nm (TSMC) |
| Total CPU Cores | 18 Cores | 10 cores |
| Core Configuration | 12 x 5.0 GHz Prime cores 6 x 3.4 GHz Performance cores | 4 x 4.6 GHz Super cores 6 x 3.0 GHz Efficiency cores |
| Total Cache | 53 MB | 24.4 MB |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno X2-90 GPU up to 1.85 GHz | Apple M5 10-core GPU – |
| NPU Performance | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU up to 80 TOPS | 16-Core Neural Engine – |
| Memory Bandwidth | 228 GB/s | 153 GB/s |
| Memory Type | LPDDR5x (up to 9523 MT/s) | LPDDR5x (up to 9600 MT/s) |
| SSD/NVMe Interface | Dual PCIe 5.0 | Proprietary Apple Fabric |
| Cellular Modem | Snapdragon X75 5G modem up to 10 Gbps download speed up to 3.5 Gbps upload speed | – |
| Wi-Fi | Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 | Apple N1 Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth v5.4 | Bluetooth v6 |
Snapdragon X2 Elite vs Apple M5: Benchmark score
Cinebench 2026 CPU score
The single-thread CPU test in Cinebench 2026 measures the absolute raw performance of a processor’s architecture without any software-based amplification. It forces the benchmark to run on exactly one virtual pipeline, allowing users to compare different chip designs on a completely level playing field.
Apple still maintains the lead in the single-thread/single-core performance. The M5 scores 731 points, while the Snapdragon X2 Elite manages 676 points. That’s a little over 8% increase for the Apple chip. However, multi-threaded scores tell a completely different story.
With 6459 points, the Snapdragon X2 Elite is significantly ahead of the Apple M5 (3680 points) in the multi-threaded CPU performance test.
| Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90–100) | Apple M5 (10-core) | |
| Single Thread | 676 | 731 |
| Multiple Threads | 6459 | 3680 |
Geekbench CPU score (v6.7)
Geekbench also confirms that the Apple M5 leads the single-core CPU test, scoring 4226 points against the Snapdragon X2 Elite’s 4037. Qualcomm’s chip bounces back strongly in the multi-core test, as we saw in the Cinebench test.
In the multi-core CPU test, the Snapdragon X2 Elite achieved 20,544 points. In contrast, the Apple M5 scores just over 17K. That’s a solid 18% boost for the Qualcomm chip.
| Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90–100) | Apple M5 (10-core) | |
| Single core | 4037 | 4226 |
| Multi cores | 20544 | 17313 |
Both Cinebench and Geekbench tell the same story: the Apple M5 has an edge in the single-core CPU performance, and the Snapdragon X2 Elite rocks the multi-core performance.
We’ll update the post with more benchmark data as we receive them from our team. You can bookmark the page to check back later.
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