Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8c and 7c Compute Platforms: Always-connected LTE and all-day battery life for the mainstream

With the spotlight-stealing Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, 765 and 765G chips out of the way, Day 3 of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit saw the launch of two new Compute Platforms for Qualcomm’s ACPC line. ACPC or always-connected PCs, are a relatively new breed of hybrid devices that toe the line between smartphone and full blown laptop PC. The promise of this platform is PC-like Windows 10 performance in a slim and light chassis that offers actual 20-hr battery life and always-on internet access via LTE. [caption id=“attachment_7744661” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] The Snapdragon 8c and 7c will take care of the mainstream and entry-level PC markets. Image: Qualcomm[/caption] The first chip for this was basically a modified Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 . Last year saw the release of the purpose-built 8cx , a modified version of which was even used by Microsoft in its 2019 Surface line of devices. Today, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 7c and Snapdragon 8c. Together with the 8cx, the 8c and 7c will service the premium, mainstream, and entry-level markets. There’s also a new 8cx enterprise compute platform that offers better secured hardware and software for enterprises. [caption id=“attachment_7744671” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Always Connected PCs function like regular PCs even though they’re powered by mobile hardware. They do have some limitations, but the 20-hr battery life and always-connected nature makes up for some of the issues. Image: Qualcomm[/caption] The Snapdragon 7c apparently offers twice the battery life that competitors offer, and includes an X15 LTE modem for connectivity. A Kryo 468 CPU and Adreno 618 graphics take care of most computing needs. These are assisted by an AI engine that delivers 5 TOPS of AI processing power (that’s 3 times less than what the 865 offers). The 8c is said to be 30 percent faster than the first gen Snapdragon 850 and feature a faster X24 LTE modem. The AI engine is also fractionally faster at 6 TOPS. [caption id=“attachment_7746151” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The three chips will service every segment of the ACPC market.[/caption] Disclaimer: The correspondent was invited to the Snapdragon Summit at Maui by Qualcomm. All expenses relating to travel and accommodation were taken care of by Qualcomm.