Snapdragon doesn't just want to take down the Intel and AMD duopoly on Windows, Qualcomm is now coming for dedicated Mac users in the creative space.
Qualcomm unveiled the final entry in the Snapdragon X platform, the budget-friendly Snapdragon X chipset, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, NV, from January 7-10. However, the new SKU in the Snapdragon X family was hardly the most interesting thing Qualcomm brought to the computing space of CES. Qualcomm has expanded its app partnerships for Windows on Arm to include the Moises App, DJay Pro, Steinberg Cubase, and Capture One.
So what's new with Snapdragon?
DJay Pro and Capture One
Qualcomm announced a partnership with Algoriddim for DJay Pro back in May 2024 at Microsoft Build. The application is usable on all Snapdragon platforms, including the new budget Snapdragon X chipset. DJay Pro wasn't quite ready to go for Windows on Arm at launch, but it is available now on Snapdragon X devices.
The special feature Qualcomm showcased at CES 2025 was DJay Pro's Neural Mix software, which allows for real-time music source separation, allowing you to adjust and remix singular elements of a track in real time to isolate beats, instruments, or vocals in the midst of a performance. So, if you want to emphasize the cowbell in "Livin on a Prayer," you can now get speedy isolation support on Snapdragon machines and Apple's MacBook line.
Qualcomm also showcased CaptureOne in a demo photo studio complete with a multi-monitor setup, studio lights, and a camera that was plugged into the Snapdragon X Elite laptop for additional control right from the digital workstation. Not only did the Snapdragon X-powered workstation control the camera and a dual monitor setup, but Qualcomm also leveraged the built-in Hexagon NPU for quicker and easier photo editing, essentially allowing photographers to leverage post-production effects in pre-production.
While both the DJay Pro and CaptureOne applications had been announced for Snapdragon X prior to CES, this was our first time seeing both applications in action on Snapdragon X Elite laptops.
Moises Live
New for CES 2025 was a demo of the Moises Live feature in the Moises App. A preview build of this feature was showcased at Snapdragon Summit in October 2024, but the feature is now live and exclusive on the Snapdragon X Series.
Moises Live will leverage the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU to isolate vocals and instruments in any audio streamed on a Snapdragon X platform. So whether you're streaming Netflix or watching YouTube videos, you can get crystal clear audio tuned to your specific needs in seconds with the Moises Live application.
Qualcomm demoed the app using a recording of live music, and the adjustments were seamless.
Steinberg Cubase
Finally, Qualcomm showed off Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, which are now available on Windows on Arm with Snapdragon X. This was the one live demo Qualcomm showcased on Snapdragon X Plus machines, while all of the others were running on Snapdragon X Elite platforms.
Not only has Qualcomm achieved MIDI support for electronic instruments, and pioneered low-latency audio with a native ASIO driver, but the company hosted a live music riff session showing off the low-latency drivers and MIDI support using Steinberg Cubase to cover various guitar effects pedals. If I didn't know the entire performance was run on a few Snapdragon X laptops, I would honestly have believed it was performed using standard effects pedals and amplifiers.
While Steinberg's music applications are useful for live music, and that's how Qualcomm showcased the applications, they're also used in music production and recording. This allows Qualcomm to compete with Apple's native and third-party music recording software.
What's next?
Creatives, particularly in the music and photo studio space, have long been a core user base for Apple. Because Apple's platform is plug-and-play, it makes it easy to connect a camera, a guitar, or a set of turntables to a MacBook and get started. So, with MIDI support, native ASIO drivers, and multi-monitor support, the Snapdragon X series is a solid competitor to the MacBook.
And considering the massive updates to Qualcomm's native application portfolio, the company is clearly hoping creatives will flock to Snapdragon X laptops instead since they'll be available for much less than the MacBook Pro line. Plus, unlike previous Snapdragon X demos, which used custom hardware to run DaVinci Resolve, all of these demos were run live on consumer laptops that are currently available on the market.
But it's hard to predict that these creatives will ditch the MacBook anytime soon. Apple's dominance in art spaces has been running for decades, lasting through the final Intel-Mac years, which were inarguably Apple's worst MacBook hardware in recent years, with the much-maligned "butterfly" keyboard and Touch Bar. If those weren't enough to get creatives to switch to Windows, I'm not sure Snapdragon will move the needle.
But you've got to respect the efforts Qualcomm has put into building out the Windows on Arm ecosystem over the course of a single year. Apple's reputation with creatives wasn't built in a day either, so perhaps Qualcomm can slowly win over a new generation.
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