Last week, Qualcomm announced that it will be launching the next-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets on November 15, 2022. Now, ahead of the launch, some details about the SoC have surfaced giving us an idea of what to expect.
According to a WFCCtech report, only TSMC will be taking the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 orders from Qualcomm. The chipset, however, will likely not be made on TSMC’s upcoming 3nm node. This is due to the fact that Apple is TSMC’s most lucrative client and has already reserved fab capacity for the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. So, we are likely looking at Qualcomm using TSMC’s 4nm node again for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. For those unaware, it is the same node on which the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is made.
Samsung has recently started shipping its cutting-edge 3nm node to clients, however, it is reported that no smartphone chipset vendor has approached Samsung for its 3nm GAA chips. A reason for Qualcomm not placing orders with Samsung yet could be the fiasco with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. The chipset was manufactured on Samsung’s 4nm node and was heavily criticized for its thermal and efficiency issues.
Earlier reports have mentioned that Qualcomm could opt for a “1 + 2 + 2 + 3” cluster instead of the “1 + 3 + 4” CPU cluster used on previous Snapdragon chips. This new configuration will have a high-performance core codenamed Makalu, two Makalu cores, two Matterhorn cores, and three Klein R1 cores. These codenames will correspond to Cortex-X3, Cortex-A715, and an updated Cortex-A510, which are the latest CPU architectures unveiled by ARM.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is anticipated to be coupled with Qualcomm’s most recent Snapdragon X70 5G modem in addition to its unique CPU design, enabling it to achieve new peak download speeds while using up to 60% less power. Tipster Yogesh Brar has informed that we can expect significant gains in the GPU performance and around a 10% uplift in the overall performance of the chipset.
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