Just to add some perspective and clarification, the current intel I am operating on is the Surface Pro 10 consumer model will have the Elite and Plus models of the Snapdragon X series. Think of it like the Surface Pro with the current arrangement of the Core i5 and Core i7 segmentation and apply the same line of reasoning with the Plus and Elite tiers of Snapdragon X and you are right on the money. You will notice that Windows Central whose information likely stems from similar sources as myself also firmly confirms Snapdragon X Elite will be in the Surface Pro 10 consumer model (links: EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft will unveil OLED Surface Pro 10 and Arm Surface Laptop 6 this spring ahead of major Windows 11 AI update | Windows Central; Microsoft unveils business-focused Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 with Intel Core Ultra, new NPUs, and display upgrades | Windows Central).
There is no power limitation preventing the use of the Snapdragon X Elite in a passively cooled fanless device. The maximum power draw they quote for the Qualcomm thin and light reference model is 23 watts under a full synthetic load of both CPU and GPU, including the entire system (including the display at a peak 100% brightness, which accounts for 5-10 watts itself, as well as 100% volume for the speakers, and full write activity for the onboard NVMe, typically 3-5 watts, and so on). Per AnandTech, “[a]ctive cooling will be needed to get the most out of the Elite, but according to Qualcomm, passive/fanless designs are possible as well, and we should expect to see some retail devices designed as such.”