Rumor: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will have a very unusual 1+2+2+3 CPU configuration
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 will satisfy the need for a powerful chipset until the end of the year, so Qualcomm is looking at what comes next. And what comes next is a highly unusual 1+2+2+3 CPU configuration, according to leakster Digital Chat Station.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU will allegedly feature the following cores: one Cortex-X3, two Cortex-A720, two A710 and three A510. Or to go by their code names, 1x Makalu-Elp, 2x Makalu, 2x Matterhorn and 3x Klein-R1.
If you have been following ARM’s announcement, the Makalu and Matterhorn names should be familiar. Those were announced as the follow-ups to the Cortex-X1/A78 generation. Matterhorn is clearly the X2/A710 step in the chart, Makalu is the next generation.
The Cortex-X3 and A720 promise an up to 30% uplift in peak CPU performance compared to the X1/A78 cores and a smaller jump from the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Presumably, this for performance at equal clock speeds.
Which matters since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (SM8550, code name Kailua ES) will be fabbed on TSMC’s N4 node, according to DCS. That is the same 4nm process that the 8+ Gen 1 is made on, so we can’t expect major increases in clock speeds.
This will probably be the first mobile chipset to feature four different CPU cores (the current chipsets use three kinds). But if that’s what it takes to deliver next-gen performance then so be it.
Anyway, the Gen 2 flagship chip is said to use an Adreno 740 GPU, which doesn’t tell us much, unfortunately. It will use same architecture as the 730 in the current chips, but any details performance improvements will have to wait for future leaks.
Qualcomm typically announces its flagship chipset for the next generation of phones at the end of the year with a big in-person event in Hawaii (which explains all the Hawaii-themed code names).
