Qualcomm quietly debuts Snapdragon X Elite Mini PC that's the perfect alternative to the Apple Mac Mini — and it's not as expensive as you'd think

Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, a compact mini PC designed to simplify the development of next-generation Windows applications and AI experiences, but you can use it for any purpose you like and it makes a perfect, affordable alternative to the Apple Mac Mini.

At the heart of the Snapdragon Dev Kit is a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-00-1DE chipset, which includes a Qualcomm Oryon CPU with 12 cores that can reach speeds up to 3.8 GHz, along with a dual-core boost capability up to 4.3 GHz. The Adreno GPU delivers up to 4.6 TFLOPS and the Hexagon NPU up to 45 TOPS, accelerating AI/ML workloads and allowing for local execution of LLMs and LVMs, reducing the need for cloud resources.

Running Windows 11, the Dev Kit is equipped with 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB of fast NVMe storage. It includes two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, three USB 4 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, an RJ45 Ethernet connection, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The device supports connection to up to three UHD monitors and can accommodate multiple units in development and test environments. It also features the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 Mobile Connectivity System, supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Cheaper than Surface Pro 11

The Snapdragon Dev Kit is primarily aimed at helping developers build, debug, test, and port native applications for Windows on Snapdragon, optimizing performance across CPU, GPU, and NPU. It uses the native Arm64 toolchain, including Visual Studio and VS Code, and supports scalable application development with Arm64 VMs and CI/CD infrastructure.

Priced at $899.99, the Snapdragon Dev Kit is the most affordable option in the Snapdragon X series. Notebookcheck notes this price is lower than the Surface Pro 11, which starts at $989 and features the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 chipset with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

The Snapdragon Dev Kit, measuring 8 inches x 7 inches x 1.3 inches (199 mm x 175 mm x 35 mm) and weighing 970g, is available exclusively from Arrow. The device comes in black with a shell made from 20% recycled ocean plastic.