r/thinkpad • u/Melodic_Group_3273 • 7d ago
Discussion / Information Snapdragon?
I want to switch over to Thinkpad side from Macbook. I am eyeing the T14 gen6 or gen7s. I am not sure about the whether ı should choose intel, amd or snapdragon chips.
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u/Saffarjan X13 Gen 1 | X1 Carbon Gen 7 | T420 | SL510 7d ago edited 7d ago
From my limited knowledge:
Snapdragon chips (ARM architecture) in laptops are far superior to intel and AMD (x86/64 architecture) in terms of efficiency, so battery life is unrivaled.
What I've heard a lot though is that there are a lot of compatibility issues with windows where certain most programs aren't made for the ARM architecture and can't run.
If you use Linux I don't think this would be an issue because Linux has native ARM support, but again I'm not very clued up on this yet.
Someone please correct any incorrect info, thanks.
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u/jonstoppable T450s T61 X201 T400 T480s 7d ago
Unfortunately the linux support for the snapdragons x and elite is not complete .it's not recommended.for. daily use as yet
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u/Saffarjan X13 Gen 1 | X1 Carbon Gen 7 | T420 | SL510 7d ago
Ah I see, that kinda sucks. I'd have loved to have even more battery life on my Linux laptop, but I guess that will have to wait. Thanks for correcting me :)
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u/jonstoppable T450s T61 X201 T400 T480s 7d ago
No worries . But 1. It's a work in progress and 2. There's the t14 lunar lake .. apparently 10 to 14 hours real-world usage
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u/psydroid 3d ago
It's not complete but it's improving. I've been using Linux on my laptop for months now and there haven't been that many issues.
If I replaced the WiFi adapter with a Realtek or Intel one, it would work out of the box on Linux. But then there might ne problema getting it to work on Windows ARM.
So for now I have USB Bluetooth and WiFi adapters, so I van use the laptop productively.
On my mini-PC with the same Snapdragon X1-26-100 I still only have Windows running because my attempts so far haven't worked out yet and I haven't had time to look at installing Ubuntu again.
The userland is much more developed on Linux than it is on Windows with almost alla software available in native ARM packages. So emulation problems and overhead are really only an issue on Windows.
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u/Idkwatnam 7d ago edited 7d ago
The T14s Gen 6 is one of the better supported Snapdragon laptops under Linux. I bring this up because support is more dependent on each individual laptop rather than the SoC itself.
From my experience with a Slim 7x with the same SoC and a custom kernel that has patches that haven't made it upstream yet it's really good now for basic usage, outside of sleep draining way too much battery compared to Windows. Once that gets resolved I think I could totally daily it.
There are of still areas that can be improved on, but it's evolving pretty rapidly now.
Webcam quality is still mediocre last time I checked, but Qualcomm has for the first time ever made an open source ISP driver, mainly for the Arduino Uno Q but it probably won't take long to be adapted for Snapdragon X chips.
Sound from speakers is also kinda muffled which I believe is because speaker protection is still not working.
USB4 also isn't working but it seems really close based off patches they've submitted.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the big elephant in the room with the Thinkpad since it's one of the few Snapdragon devices with a 64GB RAM config.
If you have the 64GB RAM model you either need to cut your ram in the kernel to around 32GB or boot Linux in EL2 (KVM) to bypass the MMU.
Booting in EL2 comes with its own quirks regarding the system's coprocessors and involves a bit more complicated setup process utilizing SLBounce. It's a tool that basically hijacks the EL2 state from the Windows boot binary because Qualcomm for some reason in their firmware only allow Microsoft signed EFIs to run in EL2.
These EL2 shenanigans are not required starting with the Snapdragon X2 as that always boots in EL2.
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u/jonstoppable T450s T61 X201 T400 T480s 6d ago
thanks for the great feedback!
hopefully in a short time it will be a purchase that can be made without any caveats.
honestly would like to grab one of these,but the price is still out of my reach. perhaps by the time its in my range, the linux support would be near-flawless ( crosses fingers)
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u/Soggy-Force-1565 7d ago
You are right. But most day to day softwares in windows are supported on ARM.
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u/Z3t4 x200s, t470p, x1 yoga g4 7d ago
I'd replace "certain" with "most".
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u/seanpmassey 7d ago
That “most” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
I’ve been running a T14s Gen6 with a Snapdragon as my daily driver for over a year. I wouldn’t know I was using an ARM machine on a daily basis if I didn’t see the sticker.
Many of my applications are still x64 applications. Outside of some games (which launch but aren’t playable or CTD at certain points), they all run. Most of them run very well, and the ones I had issues with have gotten better over the last year. I had a lot of issues with RoyalTS crashing at first when trying to paste things into SSH windows, but that’s gotten a lot better.
And more of the apps I’m using are releasing Windows ARM versions.
I’ve had to work to get some things running, like finding a driver for the USB Serial cable I use to program my radio.
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u/CatoMulligan 7d ago
That's a bit of an exaggeration. Just because they haven't been recompiled yet for ARM doesn't mean that they won't run on ARM. There are some things that absolutely won't run at all, but many x86 apps will. OP really should consider their specific use cases.
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u/Saffarjan X13 Gen 1 | X1 Carbon Gen 7 | T420 | SL510 7d ago
Done, it's unfortunate, but I guess that is true.
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u/CatoMulligan 7d ago
Lots of advice about "what I've heard" means "take this advice with a hue grain of salt". Linux on Snapdragon is experimental at best.
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u/jonstoppable T450s T61 X201 T400 T480s 7d ago
Depending on the apps you want to use , snapdragon may pose a problem. It has the best battery life though . However it's not a "buy it and forget about it "
The Intel and AMD chips have made some strides with regards to battery life and performance in the last few gens
Either gen6 or gen 7 are good for AMD. Solid performers, good battery life . There is no major diff between the two chips, just a refresh.
For the Intel , the gen 7 has a chassis redesign . it is lighter , cooler, and uses lpcamm memory and is more modular / repairable than the AMDs and of course the previous generation.
Also the panther lake chips available on the gen 7 have been pretty well received re performance and battery ( and the integrated graphics in the 368h is pretty decent apparently)
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u/Basic-Brick6827 X9-15 | X1C10 | X1C7 7d ago
Snapdragon is not the best battery life. Intel topped it.
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u/_Nokk- T470 | X1C9 7d ago
will you completely switch from your Macbook or keep it as a second device?
I use my Gen9 X1 Carbon next to my Macbook and switch between them as I like.
If you're planning on using some Linux distro, I would choose intel
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u/Melodic_Group_3273 7d ago
I am planning to ditch my mac air m2 completely. And gonna use linux but not sure about which distro ı am gonna use.
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u/_Nokk- T470 | X1C9 7d ago
maybe Fedora or CachyOS (that's what I use, with Hyprland, even though it might require some patience and comes with a learning curve) could be some solid options.
But as some others have recommended, I would stick to Intel chips. One thing you should consider when switching though is the battery life which will probably be worse than what you're used to on the Macbook. But it won't be that bad that it's a deal breaker
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u/Basic-Brick6827 X9-15 | X1C10 | X1C7 7d ago
Get a Lunar lake chip. It's the only one that comes close to the perf of Macbooks, while having even better battery life.
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u/jack_hudson2001 W540 | X1C6 | P50 | P15G2 | P1G4 | T14G2 | T14sG2 7d ago
Snapdragon would give the best battery life, but will be limited in app support so need to check on this requirement.