Though the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is already powering some completely good smartphones, we will’t assist however suppose forward to what the following era must supply. Qualcomm will undoubtedly have a brand new chipset to energy 2024 flagship smartphones, tentatively dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

In fact, Qualcomm retains the small print of its upcoming chipset tightly underneath wraps till its official unveiling. Nonetheless, we will glean a bit about what to anticipate primarily based on info and rumors at the moment dotted across the net.

Will there be a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and when will it arrive?

So far as we all know, Qualcomm isn’t planning to bow out of the extremely profitable cellular SoC enterprise, so a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is undoubtedly on the playing cards. The rumor mill has already noticed references to the chip, which apparently bears the SM8650 mannequin quantity.

Qualcomm sometimes introduced its next-gen processor merchandise at Snapdragon Tech Summit. The precise dates differ somewhat every year. Nonetheless, we will count on the occasion to happen in October or November 2023, after we will see the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 introduced and the corporate’s extremely anticipated Oryon CPU for PC merchandise.

Regardless of Qualcomm preserving particulars on its next-generation flagship processor underneath lock and eye, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill churning out a couple of potential specs. Mixed with varied trade bulletins, corresponding to new CPUs from Arm and Bluetooth requirements from SIG, we will already put a couple of items of the puzzle collectively.

64-bit solely this time

In keeping with the most recent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 rumors, Qualcomm is getting ready to drop 32-bit help. Lastly.

The Android ecosystem has been shifting in the direction of 64-bit-only help for a number of years now. The Play Retailer solely serves 64-bit apps to appropriate gadgets as of August 2021. Chip IP big Arm even dropped 32-bit help from most of its CPU roadmap earlier than reversing course by introducing the capabilities as an possibility for its little Cortex-A510 cores.

To please maintain outs (primarily within the Chinese language market), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ended up with an odd CPU format that includes each 64-bit solely and 32-bit succesful CPU cores. The 1+2+2+3 design was a departure from earlier Snapdragon CPU setups, and one which Qualcomm received’t essentially must revisit if it strikes over to 64-bit solely.

Such a rumor gels with what we all know concerning the newest Arm CPUs, that are virtually sure to energy the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Arm’s newest Cortex-X4, A720, and A520 CPUs are 64-bit solely, so utilizing these cores guidelines out 32-bit help. Arm IP appears possible as soon as extra, as Oryon, Qualcomm’s customized Arm-based core design, is anticipated to debut in laptops earlier than being distilled right down to the smartphone kind issue.

Nonetheless, rumors trace at a reasonably intriguing 1+2+3+2 CPU setup. Apparently, this consists of 1 Cortex-X core (presumably the X4), two A-5XX class cores (the brand new A520?), and 5 A7XX cores break up into teams of two and three.

Reasonably than that includes 32-bit cores, which isn’t doable together with the brand new ARMv9 CPUs, Qualcomm may implement the Cortex-A720 center cores throughout two completely different efficiency factors. Two cores with bigger caches and clock speeds, paired with three smaller configurations would enhance the SoC’s functionality to scale up easily and down the efficiency/energy curve. Transferring to only two power-efficient cores would even be an attention-grabbing selection, and more and more energy-economical mid-cores make giant little core counts much less of a necessity in fashionable chipsets.

AI is 2023’s massive buzzword and one which most likely received’t be going away anytime quickly. In fact, smartphones are already jammed-packed with machine studying number-crunching capabilities, however scaling superior AI fashions to run on-device is a looming problem. In Could 2023, Qualcomm printed a whitepaper specializing in the way forward for hybrid AI —  operating each within the cloud and on-device.

Whereas primarily highlighting the work Qualcomm already has in place with its AI Engine and developer ecosystem (prone to preserve itself within the dialogue), it’s a reminder that AI is significant to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platforms. Given at this time’s headwinds, AI is bound to be much more distinguished within the coming years.

As to exactly what to anticipate concerning AI enhancements, we’ll have to attend for the summit. A protected guess could be beefed-up capabilities to help compressed AI fashions. We’ve already seen Secure Diffusion operating on a demo gadget, albeit with decreased capabilities. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 already helps INT4, which is as small as ML fashions go. As a substitute, tighter integration between Qualcomm’s Spectra ISP, Hexagon DSP, and Adreno GPU may additionally be essential to reaching additional efficiency.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 wouldn’t be full with no appreciable connectivity suite, and we’re anticipating the most recent and best right here.

Qualcomm’s present chipset might have already got hit the house community ceiling with early help for Wi-Fi 7, however compliance with the ultimate spec will possible seem within the 8 Gen 3. Moreover, a brand new Snapdragon X75 5G modem guarantees a smaller space footprint, as much as 20% energy financial savings over the X70, and improved location accuracy with GNSS Location Gen 2 which are destined for Qualcomm’s subsequent flagship chip.

The newest Bluetooth 5.4 customary can be an possibility. Whereas not game-changing from an end-user perspective, Periodic Promoting with Responses synchronizes packet communication to enhance energy effectivity in ultra-low energy use instances. In the meantime, Encrypted Promoting Information standardizes commercial site visitors encryption to make sure safe IoT programs. Audio fanatics can count on to be handled to Qualcomm’s Dynamic Spatial Audio and Snapdragon Sound advantages.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a superb chip, however there are a couple of particular enhancements we’d wish to see with Qualcomm’s looming announcement.

Even better-sustained efficiency

With the Samsung 4nm fiasco firmly within the rearview mirror, 2023 smartphones have been fairly free from efficiency throttling points. Nonetheless, we’ve seen the often sizzling handset and types that reduce on a regular basis efficiency in pursuit of multi-day battery life. The holy grail is a chip that gives peak efficiency with out holding again for concern of excessive temps or battery drain. Hopefully, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 may be that chip.

Sustained efficiency has been extra regarding when taking a look at longer-term gaming efficiency. Our in-house gaming check exhibits {that a} hefty cooling resolution continues to be required to lock a rock-solid 60fps over average play instances. The upper GPU clock velocity of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy doesn’t translate into a greater gaming expertise when you surpass the five-minute mark.

Fortunately, effectivity beneficial properties from new CPU cores and smaller 3nm manufacturing nodes imply extra environment friendly chips are doable. Simply so long as Qualcomm doesn’t get caught up chasing unsustainable peak efficiency.

Extra highly effective ray tracing capabilities

Talking of graphics, ray tracing should still be a cellular graphics area of interest (in actual fact, there aren’t any Western video games on the time of writing), however we absolutely count on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to maintain this performance from its processor. That mentioned, Qualcomm’s first-gen try at cellular ray tracing was underwhelming after we benchmarked the chip’s capabilities.

Qualcomm’s Adreno 740 got here in properly behind Arm’s Immortalis G715 structure discovered within the MediaTek Dimensity 9200, and Arm’s structure will see some future beneficial properties within the new Immortalis G720 GPU. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 scored behind 2022’s Exynos 2200 and its AMD Xclipse graphics chip in Basemark’s InVitro check too.

Whereas not important, we want to see ray tracing enhancements with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s GPU to maintain the chip future-proof for when this demanding graphics expertise turns into mainstream.

Costs that received’t break the financial institution

Whereas Qualcomm doesn’t disclose accomplice pricing, we all know that the most recent and best processor expertise doesn’t come low cost and is a notable value on a smartphone invoice of supplies. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 shouldn’t be low cost, particularly given the articles on this wishlist, however we’d wish to see worth for cash when it comes to options that customers profit from most.

That is particularly vital on condition that there are some nice worth chipsets already available on the market. Even in Qualcomm’s personal portfolio, the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 compares very favorably towards flagship processors from lower than two years in the past. And we definitely didn’t have any complaints about smartphones powered by the 8 Plus Gen 1.

Flagship smartphone costs are already steep in at this time’s economic system; one much less motive to extend costs additional could be very welcome.

There’s lots to look ahead to with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is able to energy flagship smartphones launching in early 2024. In fact, Qualcomm isn’t the one firm anticipated to unveil new silicon later this 12 months. We’re equally excited to see what Google has in retailer with the Tensor G3 too.