What you need to know
- An overseas tipster alleges what consumers might expect from Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, as their report says a 2+3+3 CPU structure is possible.
- More than that, the Adreno 850 GPU was alleged; however, the "base" SD 8 Elite Gen 6 could see a slightly lower Adreno 845 GPU.
- Rumors about a potential Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro started in January, claiming the chip could only seek out Ultra phones.
With one flagship chip in our hands, we're always looking ahead to the next, and that's exactly where this Qualcomm rumor takes us.
Similar to a recent Qualcomm report, Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) posted a few alleged specs for the next Snapdragon 8 Elite series (via GSMArena). The tipster leads off the rumors by claiming a chip marked as SM8975, which is likely the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, could feature a 2+3+3 CPU arrangement. The specifics of these cores weren't explicitly stated; however, DCS adds that TSMC's 2nm process is its foundation.
It probably would've been weird if Qualcomm still settled for the 3nm process, huh? This is the second time I've seen TSMC's 2nm process mentioned. More than that, its CPU structure already differs from the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5's two (Prime cores) and six (performance) setup. More specifics are likely ahead of us, but for now, this is what we have.
What's more, other details suggest the 8 Elite 6 Pro could feature the Adreno 850 GPU with support for LPDDR5X RAM. It's still pretty early, especially for rumors like this. Qualcomm doesn't launch its next flagship SoC until the fall, so we might be a way out before we can think about speeds and strength upgrades.
DCS dives into the "base" Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, which may also be built off TSMC's 2nm process with a 2+3+3 architecture. Unlike the Pro variant, the base SoC is expected to see the Adreno 845 SoC, but LPDDR5X RAM is expected.
The Elite's hitting the Pro scene
GSMArena reports that the tipster added a bit more to this rumor, claiming that Qualcomm was working on a non-Elite chip variant. As such, it would be classified as the "Snapdragon 8 Gen 6." The company did something similar last year with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. This was a chip that sought out the mid-range, affordable line of phones; however, Qualcomm tried to plug as much "flagship-level" power into it as it could.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite 5 really showed up and started aura farming the only way a phone chip can. Qualcomm touted a 20% increase in its CPU performance, while striving for a wild 35% increase in efficiency. The benchmarks were very clear, as Qualcomm held its own with its strong Oryon cores. Obviously, this "should" continue into the next iteration. But just how much of a gain remains to be seen.
It seems like a safe bet to expect the company to continue that, but you never know. Regarding the 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, rumors about this bubbled up in January. Supposedly, this chip will only arrive on Ultra model phones. Envision the Galaxy S27 Ultra and the like. TSMC's 2nm was rumored previously, as well as a stronger N2P for "performance and power" gains. Still, like this rumor, the exact numbers aren't clear. Qualcomm's benchmarks for the Snapdragon 8 Elite 5 highlighted its dominance.
At the very least, we'd expect the numbers for the next SoC to surpass this.
