What you need to know
- A rumor suggests Qualcomm will lean on TSMC, once again, to be the sole manufacturer of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
- Qualcomm may adopt a dual-foundry approach from 2025, with Samsung joining to build future chips.
- Based on a 3nm process, the SD 8 Gen 4 is rumored to achieve a 10,000 score in the Geekbench 6 multi-core test.
Early rumors are cropping up surrounding Qualcomm's 2024 flagship SoC before we even get our hands on the latest. According to Tech_Reve on X, the company is rumored to tap TSMC once more as the sole creator of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (via GSMArena). The leaker adds the SD 8 Gen 4, based on TSMC's 3nm process, may exceed a score of 10,000 on the Geekbench 6 multi-core test when consuming eight watts of power.
The GPU is supposedly "remarkable," with the rumor adding the chip could utilize the Adreno 830. It would seem as though Qualcomm is more interested in maximizing the SD8 Gen 4's performance and power efficiency as flagship Android phones prepare for the new SoC.
Qualcomm is easily surpassing Apple.The 8G4, consuming 8 watts of power, achieves a multi-score exceeding 10k on GB6, and the GPU is also remarkable.In simple terms, the Adreno 830 demonstrates GPU performance improvement and power efficiency at the level showcased by the…December 1, 2023
A new report from the Taiwanese publication Tech News suggests Qualcomm will eventually enter a "dual foundry" plan starting in 2025. The outlet states Qualcomm has imposed the delay due to its hesitation regarding Samsung's "conservative" 3nm production moving into 2024 and its "unstable" yield rate. Samsung and TSMC, for now, are rumored to be eligible to create Qualcomm's chip for 2025 simultaneously.
This early rumored glimpse at the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 greatly surpasses that of the SD Gen 3. When Qualcomm highlighted its current-gen SoC's potential, the chip achieved a benchmark score of 7,501 in the Geekbench 6 multi-core test. The rumors don't expand on its single-core potential, although the SD Gen 3 was just shy of Apple at 2,329 points.
Qualcomm's choice to lean on TSMC is apparently due to the company's plans to pack Oryon CPU cores into the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 next year. The next SoC looks like it will take the AI capabilities started by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to the next level, as the cores offer 2x greater CPU performance and 4.5x faster AI processing.
We are essentially a year away from any official Qualcomm reveals, and things can always change from now until then.
