The Snapdragon Summit has been officially scheduled for October 2024, where Qualcomm is anticipated to unveil its next flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. This release is generating significant buzz as Qualcomm plans to transition to its new Oryon CPU cores. With numerous leaks surfacing over the past few months, let’s break down all the details and rumors surrounding the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Possible Release Date
Qualcomm has announced that the Snapdragon Summit will take place from October 21 to 23, 2024, in Maui, Hawaii. At this event, Qualcomm is anticipated to unveil its next flagship mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (codenamed SM8750). We can anticipate subsequent smartphone launches from major OEMs such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, and iQOO shortly after the announcement.
Oryon CPU Architecture Incoming?
Back in February, we reported that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 would feature Oryon CPU cores, a detail confirmed by Don McGuire, Qualcomm’s Chief Marketing Officer, at MWC 2024. He stated, “As our mobile platforms are reinvented with our Oryon CPU, there’s going to be some really cool developments coming up…”
For those who might not know, the Oryon CPU core was developed by a team of former Apple engineers who founded a company called Nuvia. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia in 2021, and since then, the team has been working on high-performance ARM-based custom CPU cores. The Oryon CPU cores first appeared in the Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chipsets for Windows PCs.
While Oryon cores offer significant performance improvements over the previous Kryo cores, there are concerns about their thermal performance. Reviews of the Snapdragon X Elite have noted that, although the Oryon processors deliver excellent performance, they also generate considerable heat and consume more power. The processors perform well at 3.4GHz, but when clock speeds reach 3.8GHz or exceed 4.0GHz, they tend to throttle, even with active cooling.
Reports indicate that Qualcomm might opt for a 2+6 CPU cluster configuration for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. It’s still unclear whether the company will use two high-performance Oryon cores or ARM’s latest Cortex-X925 cores based on the ARM v9.2 architecture. For the mid-performance cores, there’s speculation about the use of the latest Cortex-A725 cores, but this has yet to be confirmed. Notably, it appears that Qualcomm may not include low-power efficiency cores in this design.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will also transition to TSMC’s latest 3nm process node (N3E), which is now quite advanced. This new fabrication process could enable Qualcomm to achieve higher performance while maintaining a lower power consumption, making it well-suited for mobile devices.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4: Leaked Benchmarks
A Vietnamese forum (voz.vn) has reported that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 scored 3,133,570 points on the AnTuTu benchmark. On Geekbench, it reportedly scored 2,845 in single-core tasks and 10,628 in multi-core tasks, showcasing notably strong multi-core performance.
The outlet also reports that the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 outperforms the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, particularly in multi-core tests, surpassing 11,000 points. MediaTek typically uses ARM-designed Cortex cores, suggesting that ARM’s CPU designs have become increasingly competitive. This poses a significant challenge for Qualcomm and Apple as they strive to maintain their edge with custom CPU cores.
What to Expect from Adreno GPU on Gen 4?
The Adreno GPU in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is expected to deliver outstanding graphics performance. Digital Chat Station on Weibo reports that it can handle demanding games like Genshin Impact smoothly at 1080p resolution. Leaked benchmark data further supports this, showing a substantial increase in performance.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s Adreno GPU scored around 927,463 points on the AnTuTu benchmark. In contrast, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s GPU is rumored to reach up to 1,330,057 points, marking a 43% improvement year-over-year. We’ll need to see how the new GPU performs in real-world scenarios once Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 devices hit the market.
Upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Phones
According to tipster Yogesh Brar, the first devices featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be released by Xiaomi, with the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro set to include the new chipset. After Xiaomi, both OnePlus and iQOO are also expected to launch smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
Additionally, Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent tipster, reports that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 globally. This year, Samsung might forego using its upcoming Exynos 2500 processor for the Galaxy S25 series due to lower-than-expected yields.
That wraps up our overview of the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset from Qualcomm. While this year’s performance improvements are set to be significant, it’s worth noting that costs may rise as well. The advanced N3E process node from TSMC is expensive, which means Qualcomm will likely pass those costs onto smartphone manufacturers. Consequently, consumers might face higher prices for flagship devices. Are you planning to upgrade? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
0 Comments