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Blackmagic Design has given ARM-based Windows PC owners a well-known video editor by releasing a DaVinci Resolve 19 beta with support for Snapdragon X Elite laptops.
Beta 3 takes advantage of the Qualcomm chip’s neural processing unit (NPU) to accelerate certain tools. AI tools like magic mask are 4.7X faster, Blackmagic claimed, while smart reframe is twice as fast.
DaVinci Resolve 19 on Snapdragon hardware shares the same features as on Macs and x86-based Windows PCs, much of which is driven by AI. UltraNR can reduce noise in a video frame while preserving quality, while IntelliTrack AI helps stabilize and track footage. You can replicate classic film behavior, or defocus the background.
In audio, you can separate dialogue, automatically duck audio, and remix music.
The beta is available now for free The $295 DaVinci Resolve Studio doesn’t yet have Snapdragon X Elite support, but it’s also only necessary if you need the paid program’s higher video fidelity and advanced editing tools.
Blackmagic’s move could help ARM-based Windows PCs gain traction in the creative space. The Snapdragon X Elite doesn’t offer strong GPU performance, but the NPU, a video processing unit (VPU), and 12 CPU cores make it a potentially strong audiovisual editing tool that beats many x86 PCs and, according to Qualcomm, Apple’s M3 Macs.
The quick turnaround for a Snapdragon-friendly beta is important. Microsoft and several Windows hardware vendors introduced a flurry of Copilot+ PCs using the Snapdragon X Elite and its 10-core Plus counterpart, including Microsoft’s updated Surface Laptop and Surface Pro models. These systems might be more compelling now that they have a major video editor besides Adobe Premiere.
