The dust hasn’t even settled on Qualcomm's latest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and already there are rumors about its successor. The Snapdragon 8 Elite provides a significant performance boost compared to its predecessor, largely due to the transition to Oryon cores. Recently, a leak has emerged suggesting that Qualcomm might be looking to raise the bar even further with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2.
Performance Expectations
As per leaker Jukanlosreve, who references sources from Korea, both the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 and MediaTek’s forthcoming Dimensity 9500 could achieve single-core scores nearing 4,000 on Geekbench 6. To put things in perspective, the current Snapdragon 8 Elite scores around 3,200 on the same benchmark. If this leak is accurate, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 could see a performance improvement of 25%—a notable upgrade, especially considering the already exceptional performance of the 8 Elite.
Thermal Management Challenges
Yet, Qualcomm has a track record of balancing high performance with thermal management, and the 8 Elite is no different. While it excels in speed, it also tends to generate more heat than earlier models due to its clock speed of 4.32 GHz. Thus, an important question for the 8 Elite 2 is how Qualcomm plans to handle these expected performance increases while keeping temperatures in check.
Manufacturing Insights
Previous rumors indicated that the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 might be produced by both TSMC and Samsung. However, another leak from Jukanlosreve asserts that TSMC will take on the role of the exclusive manufacturer for Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship SoC. The N3P process from TSMC is rumored to deliver enhanced performance and improved power efficiency compared to the N3 node utilized in the 8 Elite. Whether these enhancements will address the thermal challenges that typically come with a performance boost remains to be seen.
It’s still quite early, and these are merely rumors for now. Given that the current generation is still recent in the market, it will likely be a while before we see more definitive information. We will keep you posted as new updates come to light.
