Qualcomm denies Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 overheating allegations on Galaxy S27 Ultra, but there’s a catch

This week, a report emerged from South Korean media, citing industry sources, that said the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 caused overheating issues on the Galaxy S27 Ultra during internal testing, and the processor speed also dropped while performing high-load tasks. A Qualcomm’s representative has declined these rumors entirely saying these are “100% NOT accurate.”

When asked to elaborate on his earlier response, Qualcomm’s CMO, Don McGuire, replied on X “There are no systemic thermal issues with the 8 elite gen 6. OEMs are consistently tuning their platforms as they launch their products. Always trying to balance performance and power to optimize their value props around different use cases. We work together to deliver the best for users.”

McGuire’s response isn’t 100% convincing as he mentioned the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 in his reply on X, not the higher-clocked Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 which is reportedly causing heating issues on the Galaxy S27 Ultra. The “Extreme” variant packs a much more powerful GPU with a boosted peak speed and faster memory.

One might think McGuire’s response applies to both chip variants, since they offer identical design and architecture. However, when the alleged problem is linked to a higher end variant of a SoC, explicitly mentioning the Extreme variant would have been a lot more convincing.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 facing troubles lately

Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has run into rough waters lately. Users in China have reported unexpected crashes, black screens, and random reboots in their phones powered by the same chip. The exact problem isn’t unknown, but some reports suggest this may be due to low voltage tuning in the firmware, not because of the chip.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 wasn’t reportedly at fault, but since all affected devices are powered by the same chip, the brand’s reputation may be hurt indirectly. McGuire was again quick to respond to these reports saying “wonder who stands to gain from perpetuating negative narratives, unsubstantiated claims and sensationalized headlines. Basically, just plain lying….I wonder.”

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