Qualcomm goes where Apple won’t, readies official Linux support for Snapdragon X Elite.
Qualcomm is making good progress on adapting its new Snapdragon X Elite laptop CPU for Linux use. The mobile SoC manufacturer revealed that it has laid a lot of the groundwork already to get the Snapdragon X Elite running the Linux operating systems. However, Qualcomm is far from done, as there’s still a lot of development work needed to get the X Elite into a fully operational state in Linux. Upcoming Linux kernels should enable full support for all the chip’s features.
Qualcomm prides itself on its Linux enablement work and has prioritized Linux enablement in all of its previous Snapdragon laptop CPUs, typically announcing Linux support one or two days after launch. The Snapdragon X Elite continues that pattern, with Linux enablement being announced the very next day after its original October 23, 2023 debut.
That’s in stark contrast to Apple, which so far hasn’t provided much in the way of official support for Linux — Asahi Linux continues to work on supporting the M1 and M2 processors, and presumably M3 and Apple M4 silicon going forward, but most of that work appears to be coming from the community rather than from Apple itself.
