Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8c, 7c will power Windows laptops that have mobile processors

Snapdragon 8c is meant to replace the Snapdragon 850, offering a 30% performance bump

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8c (Qualcomm)

Qualcomm announced two new chipsets at the tech summit in Hawaii, the Snapdragon 7c and the 8c. These two new processors have been designed to create a new lineup of Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) chips for Windows laptops.

This is an extension of Qualcomm's efforts to promote Windows-based laptops that do not run traditional PC hardware and depend on mobile processors instead.

The Snapdragon 8c and 7c join the older Snapdragon offering - the 8cx. The 8cx, however, remains a flagship in this domain and the newer offerings are meant for entry-level and cheaper laptops.

With these three chipsets Qualcomm is hoping to take on Intel and AMD in the PC market. This is also Qualcomm betting on the fact that Pc software will embrace the ARM architecture that has, so far, been used only in mobiles. The aim is to create traditional PCs with a more 'mobile' approach.

The Snapdragon 8c has been launched to replace the Snapdragon 850 with a 30% performance bump, Qualcomm said. It features a Kryo 490 CPU and an Adreno 675 GPU.

The 7c is an entry-level chipset that is meant for Windows devices that are used at home or by simple users. It comes with an octa-core Kryo 468 CPU and an Adreno 618 GPU. The 7c, according to Qualcomm, will offer a 25% bump in system performance and up to twice the battery life as compared to traditional entry-level Windows PCs.

With these two new chipsets, Qualcomm has taken a step away from its 5G-first focus that has been the crux of this year's summit. 5G is not a huge feature of the 8c or the 7c, however, the 8c can be paired with the X55 modem that supports 5G and comes with an integrated X24 LTE modem. The 7c, on the other hand, does not offer any 5G solutions what so ever and has an integrated X15 LTE modem.

The 8cx that was launched last year remains on the Snapdragon roster.