At IFA 2020 Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 8cx gen 2 - the second generation of its performance platform for thin and light Windows laptops.

As with other mobile processors, it's based on the same Arm technologies that power our phones and tablets so is 'always connected' just like a phone. 

Acer has also just announced the Spin 7 - the first notebook with the platform. Acer says the new laptop will offer around 24 hours of battery life, which is the level we're expecting from most 8cx gen 2 notebooks. The platform will also support dual 4K displays with a single USB-C cable, Wi-Fi 6 and up to 32-megapixel cameras with HDR. 

When Qualcomm first announced the first generation of the 8cx in late 2018 the focus was on performance and indeed Qualcomm claims around 18 percent performance improvement over last year's equivalent Intel Core i5.

Now though, things have shifted and the focus is on bringing 5G to more laptops. There have already been some 5G PC announcements, but this new platform should open the floodgates. 

As well as the mid-band sub-6Ghz 5G found in Europe and the US, the platform also supports the faster mmWave variant of 5G, which is rolling out in the US now and will come to Europe in the near-future.  

Qualcomm evidently sees that 5G in laptops could give it an edge over Intel, who announced the 11th generation Core processors yesterday. Intel has said it is going to team up with MediaTek to bring 5G tp next-gen laptops, but there have been no product announcements as yet.