The mini-PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite ARM chip on board is being scrapped. According to the manufacturer, the dev kit does not meet expectations.
The first Windows 11 desktop PC with an ARM chip on board was supposed to be the Qualcomm Snapdragon Dev Kit. The mini-PC was supposed to provide a platform for developers to make x86 software ARM-compatible. The dev kit was announced in May, but is now being scrapped, according to The Verge.
In an e-mail to customers, Qualcomm wrote that the whole thing was due to quality control. The company said the minipc “has not met our usual standards of excellence at all.” Qualcomm therefore let it know that it has “made the decision to suspend this product and its support indefinitely.”
read also
WSJ: ‘Qualcomm may want to acquire Intel’
Everyone will get their money back, even those who have already received a device.
Initially, the mini-PC should have been available as early as June, along with the launch of Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips in Copilot+ PCs. While the chip proved to be a success, the dev kit was not.
The chip variant in the dev kit, the X1E-00-1DE, had a slightly higher dualcore boost clock than the fastest X Elite version. You could push the mini-PC beyond 100 watts. That sounds interesting, but a tester found that using four times more power only gives you up to 30 percent more performance.
For now, you’ll find Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips only in laptops. Find out which of the two chips is best, Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus, here.