Qualcomm introduced the less powerful version of the Snapdragon X Elite called the Snapdragon X Plus, which powers the base model of Surface Laptop 7 and costs $999. While Microsoft has positioned its latest ARM-powered notebook to take on Apple’s M3 MacBook Air, a glaring problem was discovered when a YouTuber ran Cinebench, and that is severe battery drain when running the Windows notebook. This revelation clearly shows how a closely-knit software and hardware ecosystem can improve the user experience.
When running Cinebench twice for 10 minutes for a total of 20 minutes, the Snapdragon X Plus-fueled Surface Laptop 7’s battery life went from 100 percent to 65 percent
While Microsoft nailed the pricing aspect of the Surface Laptop 7, the battery drain issue still has to be discussed. However, before we jump to this discussion, let us first go over the performance aspect of Qualcomm’s latest and greatest chipset for notebooks, and the results are downright impressive. YouTuber Luke Miani ran both machines through their paces and found that the Snapdragon X Plus effortlessly beats the M2 and M3 running in the MacBook Air when firing up Cinebench, meaning that it will be an easy win for the Snapdragon X Elite.
Now, keep in mind that Cinebench maxes out the CPU, giving us a better idea of the kind of battery draw to expect. On this occasion, the M2 MacBook Air drops to just 90 percent after running the benchmark for 20 minutes, while the Surface Laptop 7 with the Snapdragon X Plus drains to 65 percent. The impressive endurance of the previous-generation MacBook Air is given more weight when we learn that the portable Mac is equipped with a slightly smaller 52WHr battery, with the Surface Laptop 7 kitted out with a 54WHr cell.
Want to hear something even more ridiculous? Luke has owned the M2 MacBook Air for two years now, so it is likely that its total charge capacity would be less than what it was when it was removed from its packaging for the first time. Despite these disadvantages, Apple’s last-generation MacBook Air comes out on top. Our guess for this incredible runtime can be attributed to the technology giant’s hardware and software development. With the company having exceptional control over both areas, there would likely be perks to owning this model.
With the Surface Laptop 7, Microsoft might run its own Windows operating system, but it uses an ‘off the shelf’ chipset from Qualcomm. Even if both companies work closely together to tweak the hardware, the collaboration can never deliver the same result as Apple. You can check out the entire video at the top and let us know what you think in the comments.
News Source: Luke Miani
