The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is likely on the way later this year, with a Snapdragon X75 5G modem and the latest Arm CPU cores
Qualcomm may have only released its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in November 2022, but development of its successor is already underway.
Here’s all we know so far about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, including confirmed information on the Snapdragon X75 5G modem and the latest Arm CPU cores.When will the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 be released?
We have no official date so far confirming the arrival of the new chip, but Qualcomm has established a pretty regular release schedule over the past few years, so we think it’s highly likely that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be released in November or December 2023.
This would be in keeping with all of the Snapdragon 8 mobile processors, which made their debuts around the same time:
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – December 2021
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 – November 2022
We haven’t heard any reports that this schedule has been disrupted, so its looks good for a winter release this year.
In February, leaker Digital Chat Station suggested on Weibo that the 8 Gen 3 will launch earlier than the 8 Gen 2 did, so before November. If this is the case, it doesn’t leave much time for Qualcomm to launch the expected 8+ Gen 2 chip for its half-year chipset update, just like it did in May 2022 with the 8+ Gen 1.
Too many chips, one might argue. What new features will we see in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?
We don’t know for sure what to expect in the 8 Gen 3 chipset, but thanks to component announcements and a few leaks, we think we have a pretty good idea about a few bits. 3nm Arm CPUs
Chip designer Arm has now unveiled its latest CPUs, and its first designed for a 3nm process, and these are almost certain to appear in the 8 Gen 3.
The Cortex-X4 is the most important, delivering 15% more power than the previous generation at up to 40% improved power efficiency. It’s joined in the new generation by the A720 and A520, each of which promises roughly 20% improved efficiency year-on-year.
In the 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm kitted out its Kryo CPU design with a 1+4+3 configuration, using an X3, two each of the A715 and A710, and a trio of A510 efficiency cores.
If we see the same again, the 8 Gen 3 should be led by the Cortex-X4 prime core, backed up by either four A720 cores or a mix of them and A715 units, and finally rounded out by three of the new A520 chips.
