A new Snapdragon 845 is on the way, tipped for 7nm and might be exclusive to the Galaxy S9 at first. Get all the news here.
The end of the year is in sight and that means were thinking about what 2018 will bring in terms of tech. For smartphones, next-generation processors will bring improvements and many eyes are on Qualcomm for its upcoming Snapdragon 845. Here’s what we know about the Mobile Platform’s release date and specs.
Although the Snapdragon 835 is still a perfectly good SoC (system on a chip), consumers always want more. Its successor is on the way and some details have been leaked so can it beat the likes of the Apple A11 Bionic and Huawei’s Kirin 970?
Although the 835 was announced at CES in January 2017, it looks like the Snapdragon 845 will ‘arrive’ earlier. We say ‘arrive’ as although the new processor might be announced, it won’t actually be available in any devices until at least early 2018. Xiaomi was one company on stage confirming it will use the 845.
As expected, Qualcomm has confirmed the new generation of processor, or Mobile Platform, at its Snapdragon Summit. Although the chip was announced during the opening keynote along with some vague highlights, full details will be made available tomorrow 6 December.
Also find out about Window 10 running on Snapdragon including the first devices.
There’s some debate about the Snapdragon 845 specs with initial reports stating it will still use a 10nm FinFET manufacturing process like the 835. However, Android Headlines now reports that it will actually use a 7nm like other future chips are tipped to use.
The cited report states that moving to 7nm will mean performance gains of 25-35 percent. It also means a smaller size which could help devices like smartphones be smaller, or at least make room for things like a bigger battery.
Qualcomm has confirmed that Samsung will be the foundry for Snapdragon 845 as the «companies continue to work together to advance the silicon manufacturing process».
Non-spec related news is that Samsung will supposedly have first dibs on the Snapdragon 845. Rumours suggest that all the initial 845 stock will be earmarked for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus.
This could mean other handsets will have to wait longer to launch a phone with the Snapdragon 845 or go with an older chip, likely the 835.
Samsung did the same thing with the 835 earlier this year for the Galaxy S8 and it meant LG had to go with the Snapdragon 821 for the LG G6. Some reports suggest that LG will get the early stock next year though, so it’s all up in the air.
As usual, when more news or official details are available we’ll update this article.
