News

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon X2 Elite & Extreme For Windows PCs

Qualcomm’s new chipsets bring faster CPUs, stronger GPUs, and upgraded AI, with the first laptops expected in early 2026.

Published

1 year ago

September 24, 2025

Nour Nasir

Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme, the second generation of its Windows-on-Arm chip designed to challenge Intel and AMD in the PC market. Qualcomm is marketing them as “the fastest and most efficient” processors for Windows laptops, though rivals are likely to dispute that claim.

Built on a 3nm process, the X2 line offers up to 31 percent faster CPU performance than the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite at the same power, or up to 43 percent less power use. GPU performance per watt has improved 2.3 times, thanks to a new 1.85GHz GPU. The chips feature Qualcomm’s third-generation Oryon CPU, with up to 18 cores: 12 cores running at up to 4.4GHz, and two cores capable of reaching 5GHz. Qualcomm says this clockspeed is a first for Arm CPUs.

AI performance has also been scaled up. A new Hexagon NPU delivers 80 TOPS, offering 37 percent more performance at 16 percent lower power draw. Qualcomm claims it is the fastest laptop NPU available today. Other upgrades include 18MB of high-speed cache, branded Adreno High Performance Memory, intended to improve gaming performance, which lagged in the first generation.

The company is pitching the Extreme variant as delivering “up to 75 percent faster CPU performance” compared with high-end chips like Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285H and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The comparisons, however, come with caveats: Qualcomm has not published fully labeled graphs, and its testing shows the Extreme drawing over 50W of power, suggesting it will scale into larger laptops beyond thin-and-light designs.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi And NVIDIA Launch First Joint AI And Robotics Lab

Qualcomm claims efficiency gains could extend battery life beyond a single workday, though last year’s X Elite machines generally managed 14-18 hours per charge. Creative software performance is another focus: Adobe benchmarks suggest 28 percent faster Photoshop edits, 43 percent faster Lightroom exports, and similar boosts in Premiere.

Meanwhile, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan also announced Synapse software support for Snapdragon Windows laptops, though he stopped short of confirming a Snapdragon-based gaming machine.

The first laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite and Extreme are expected in the first half of 2026.

News

Abu Dhabi’s Robot Kitchen Is Serving Up Biryani, Not Burgers

Circus SE wants to put a tiny automated factory inside the buildings where Gulf residents live and work, bypassing part of last-mile delivery.

Published

6 days ago

October 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

abu dhabi's robot kitchen is serving up biryani not burgers

Circus SE

The most telling thing about a new autonomous kitchen now running in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square is what it won’t cook:

“We don’t do fast food,” says Nikolas Bullwinkel, Founder and CEO of Circus SE. “We’ve actively decided not to build a machine that can only do burgers”.

Instead, the CA-1 system is built around pot-based cooking: curries, pastas, soups and rice dishes. After experimenting with highly personalized recipes, Circus deliberately leaned back toward recognizable food. “We’re going with a chicken biryani because you know it,” Bullwinkel says of the AED 40 dish.

circus se ca-1 robot system

The Germany-based robotics and food technology company operates across eight countries, and Abu Dhabi is its first deployment outside Europe. More locations are expected there and in Dubai.

In Germany, its units can be placed in supermarkets, gas stations, airports and hospitals. In the Gulf, Bullwinkel wants them inside residential and office buildings, replacing some of the complexity of last-mile delivery. “We’re basically bringing a very tiny factory a few square meters into your building,” he says. Catering company Royal Prestige supplies the ingredients and knowledge of local tastes.

The CA-1 manages up to 36 refrigerated ingredient silos alongside automated induction cooking, robotic plating and a self-cleaning dishwasher. Two robotic arms move ingredients through the system with minimal human intervention. It can produce up to 120 hot meals an hour, and a meal such as rice and curry can take around three to four minutes.

Also Read: Ooredoo Qatar’s 5G+ Network Is Built For Machines As Much As People

Five cameras and multiple sensors monitor heat, temperature and consistency, an attempt to approximate what a chef perceives. “You can hear something gets burned, you can smell it, you can see it at some point,” Bullwinkel says. CircusOS, the company’s operating system, adjusts recipes in real time.

You might think of the platform as a threat to kitchen staff, but Bullwinkel frames Circus as a way for chefs to develop recipes and distribute them at scale. With that being said, rising labor costs and shortages are also part of his case for automation.