Time for MacBook Neo rival: Qualcomm promises Windows laptops priced at Rs 30,000 this year
Last Updated: 2026-05-29 12:24:08
Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon C chip for Windows laptops and the market gears up to rival Apple’s MacBook Neo with more affordable options. The PC market, at least budget range, has remained stagnant for years, which has needed Apple for a big shake up.
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Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon C chip for budget Windows laptops- Laptops priced around Rs 30,000 expected later this year
- Snapdragon C laptops offer all-day battery and smooth use
Qualcomm is showing off its own cards, and the Snapdragon C series, sitting below the X lineup, is expected to bring models in the $300 to $400 (Rs 36,000 approx) range later this year. The memory price hikes don’t help matters these days but the chip giant is promising a budget laptop that can handle most of the PC tasks without going overboard on its price, even in today’s market.
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Snapdragon C laptops coming to a store near you
Qualcomm says the Snapdragon C chip makes modern laptops more accessible. Would this have happened if the MacBook Neo didn’t launch this year, in hindsight it would be easy to see the company take the mantle to have more accessible Windows laptops.
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Qualcomm says the new chip will deliver all-day battery life without giving any actual figures and mentions it will be ‘smooth’ for web browsing and basic PC tasks. It does feel like more manufacturers could use Apple’s model by adopting a mobile CPU for the budget notebook range, and the Snapdragon C could easily be a version of its recent 7 Gen or even 8 Gen chipsets.
More than performance
The hardware side of these budget laptops could see Windows 11 running on up to 8GB of memory, same as the Neo, but with a different operating system on board, there could be challenges in the long term to keep them running with the same pace and power.
Acer is giving us a teaser of what to expect from a Snapdragon C-powered laptop. You get a large display with 8GB RAM, 512GB of storage, supporting Wi-Fi 6E for connectivity and available with multiple USB C ports. The Neo also brings the design and build quality of these budget Windows laptops into the picture and that’s where the whole battle will be won or lost.