Apple M5 vs Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme benchmarks: The early verdict is in, and it's a surprise

Now that Apple's M5 chip has arrived in the latest MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, we finally see the impressive performance gains it offers. But it's already found a powerful Arm-based Windows rival that's set to arrive soon: the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme.

With Qualcomm's upcoming X2 Elite chipsets coming to power a new generation of Windows Copilot+ laptops in the first half of 2026, Apple will already have a fight on its hands as the CPU race heats up (not to mention Intel Panther Lake).

Now, after benchmarking the M5 MacBook Pro in our testing labs, and testing the high-end Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, we can see just how well these chips perform — and there are some surprising results.

Laptops are only getting stronger, and the latest chips can just about manage every task you throw at