Qualcomm has raised the price of its Snapdragon X and X2 Elite laptop chips by about 10% starting October 1st, Taiwan-based Commercial Times reports. That’s the chip price, not what you pay at the store. But the paper says the pressure is moving from chip factories down to PCs and finished systems.
The X2 Elite is Qualcomm’s ARM-based chip for premium Windows laptops, which is sold on multi-day battery life. Since the report covers the Snapdragon X family as well, the ARM side of Windows may no longer offer an escape from Intel’s price hikes.
As the report states, Intel went first – it raised prices on several generations of PC processors from September 1st, its third increase since late 2025. The biggest jump, 15% to 20%, hit high-end Panther Lake chips, and only the versions with the bigger graphics section. Meanwhile, Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake rose about 5% to 10%. As for AMD, they are reportedly preparing increases on some processors too, though the paper says the size, scope and timing aren’t confirmed.
The report’s unnamed sources point at TSMC, the contract chipmaker behind AMD’s Ryzen chips and part of Intel’s Panther Lake. Panther Lake’s processor section is built on Intel’s own 18A process, but its high-end graphics section is made by TSMC on its 3nm-class process, which is exactly where Intel’s biggest increases landed. AI chips, phones and high-end computers are all fighting over that 3nm capacity, and 2nm costs even more per wafer.
We couldn’t find any comment from Qualcomm on the 10% figure. In its July earnings release, Qualcomm did say the chip industry faces higher costs for “wafer fabrication, assembly, test, advanced packaging, memory and other materials,” and that it’s “taking concrete actions to reflect the higher input costs in our product pricing.” If the report is right, this is what that looks like for PCs.
The take
Laptops are now getting pricier from two directions: memory and the processors too. A 10% rise on one chip isn’t 10% on the whole laptop, and PC makers may absorb some. But with Intel and Qualcomm moving a month apart, and AMD reportedly next, there’s no cheap corner of the Windows market left to hide in. That may explain, in part, why you some people are starting to feel that the cheaper option for those looking to buy a new laptop might be in a new MacBook.
