Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor will get up to 4.26GHz to beat Apple's A18 - insider

According to the insider, Qualcomm is increasing the clock speed of the mobile processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to 4.26 GHz. This change will allow it to compete with the future A18 and A18 Pro chips for the iPhone, which can also operate at higher frequencies. The frequency race takes place against the backdrop of the release of Apple's high-performance M4 processor with a high frequency, which helped it achieve high results in single-core tests. It was previously reported that the design of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be completed in April of this year with a target frequency of 4.00 GHz.

Increasing the processor frequency can be achieved thanks to the 3nm N3E process from TSMC. But the lack of support for the ARMv9 architecture may hinder high performance. It is expected that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be announced in October, so Qualcomm has several months before its updated design will be sent to partners. The unveiling of the Apple M4 likely caught the company off guard and forced them to redesign the chip. With a frequency of 4.26 GHz, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 can gain a significant increase in single-core performance, and the "2 + 6" core structure can add outstanding multi-core results.

Considering that the M4 is produced using TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, Apple is most likely to use the same technology for the A18 and A18 Pro. It is reported that Qualcomm will also mass-produce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 on the same technology, so the market is awaiting exciting competition. It is noted that the future processor is based on Snapdragon X Elite, which does not support the ARMv9 instruction set.

This means that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will not have the Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) extension, which allows the M4 to perform complex work tasks more efficiently, and is one of the reasons for the high single-core and multi-core results in Geekbench 6. The new Qualcomm for smartphones is less productive due to the lack of SME, so the new target frequency of 4.26 GHz may be justified.

However, there is a question about cooling. Phone manufacturers must install large vapor chambers to allow the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to operate at maximum performance for an extended period of time, otherwise all Qualcomm's efforts will be in vain.

Source: Wccftech