Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon C, Partners With PC Makers to Take On the MacBook Neo

Well, that was quick: Qualcomm is expanding its Snapdragon chips for PCs with a new low-cost entry called Snapdragon C that’s designed for PCs that cost $300 and up. And it’s partnering with Acer, HP, and Lenovo to bring new PCs to market soon.

And no, “C” doesn’t stand for cheap. It stands for “Compute,” the name of the business within Qualcomm that makes its PC chips.

“As costs rise and customer expectations evolve, Snapdragon C brings together value oriented computing, all-day battery life, AI capabilities and responsive performance in cool-quiet devices for expanded platform choice,” Qualcomm SVP Kedar Kondap says. “We’re delivering modern computing experiences that help our ecosystem reach new audiences and expanding access to reliable, efficient technology for students, families, customer-facing small businesses, and beyond.”

Qualcomm says that Snapdragon C enables all-day battery life, responsive performance, cool and quiet designs, and AI capabilities via an integrated NPU, much like its higher end Snapdragon X2, X2 Elite, and X2 Elite Extreme chips. But it’s aimed at PCs for budget-conscious consumers, including students, families, and customer-facing small businesses.

More to the point, though Qualcomm never positioned it this way, Snapdragon C is designed to take on the inexpensive MacBook Neo, which starts at $599. But PCs based on Snapdragon C will start at about half that price, or $299, and they will deliver similar levels of quality, performance, and capabilities. Snapdragon C-based PCs will start with 8 GB of RAM, support USB Type-C ports and Wi-Fi 6E or newer, and come with various display sizes.

As noted, Acer, HP, and Lenovo are onboard, and each will soon announce multiple PC models that will enter the market very soon. This isn’t an announcement for later in the year, it’s happening now. And each of these companies will soon have announcements of their own, Qualcomm said.

More soon.