After the confirmation of the existence of a Xiaomi 12 Ultra, the device is now officially into the next stage of the flagship release life cycle: leaks and rumours. And this new leak is regarding the processor powering the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, which is rumoured to be the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Featured

The news comes from the popular Chinese leakster, Digital Chat Station on Weibo. In the Weibo post, they mention that the Xiaomi L2S, model number 2206122SC, is sporting the unannounced Qualcomm SM8475 chipset under the hood. The leaker also reveals that the launch date of the device is happening in Q3 2022.

Digital-Chat-Station-xiaomi-12-ultra-snapdragon-8-gen-1-plus
Source: Weibo

For those unaware, in an earlier leak, the Xiaomi L2S was spotted to be the Xiaomi 12 Ultra in the IMEI database and the Qualcomm SM8475 chipset is the successor to the Qualcomm SM8450(or more commonly known as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor). The Qualcomm SM8475 is rumoured to be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+, and it is expected to be manufactured under TSMC’s 4nm process this time instead of Samsung’s 4nm node.

This leak serves as a welcome surprise to those who were holding off buying the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro and decided to wait for the Xiaomi 12 Ultra instead. To elaborate, the reviews of the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro were all-around positive. Whether it be the cameras, the displays or the audio experience, both the phones had it all. However, both phones have a major Achilles’ Heel that could not be solved via a software update, which is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip powering both devices.

Snapdragon 8 Gen1 on Moto Edge X30 Performance Review heating
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 measuring at 53.6 degrees Celsius on the surface of the Motorola Edge X30

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip was prone to overheating, battery drain issues, and even thermal throttling on many devices such as the Xiaomi 12, 12 Pro, Motorola Edge X30, and the Realme GT 2 Pro. Many attributed the shortcomings of the chip to the reason of being fabbed under Samsung LSI’s 4nm process. This is because previous Qualcomm flagship chipsets like the Snapdragon 870, Snapdragon 865, and Snapdragon 855 didn’t exhibit these issues as strongly as the 8 Gen 1, as all 3 of them were fabbed under TSMC

And with ever-increasing complaints from both phone manufacturers and consumers, Qualcomm is reportedly going back to TSMC for its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ chipset, and it will be fabbed on TSMC’s latest 4nm process which claims to bring better thermals, better power efficiency and better performance than its predecessor.

 

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(Source, Via)