Qualcomm had just unveiled the Snapdragon 888+ system-on-chip during the 2021 MWC, but we’re already hearing more about its successor. According to the latest leaks in the industry, the Snapdragon 895 and 895+ are set to be made by two different contract fabricators.
Back in June, we had already seen rumours about the Snapdragon 895, also known as the SM8450. It’s Qualcomm’s upcoming next-gen flagship system-on-chip and is set to be fabricated on the 4nm process. However, while Samsung Foundry will be making the base variant chip, serial tech leaker Ice Universe claims that the higher end Snapdragon 895+ variant will be made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Samsung currently makes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 and 888+ SoCs, which is likely why Qualcomm are set to continue with them for the Snapdragon 895. TSMC however has superior process nodes, perhaps explaining why the higher end Snapdragon 895+ orders went to them. While Qualcomm would probably have liked the Taiwanese foundry to make all of their Snapdragon 895 SoCs, the fact is that it would’ve been more expensive for Qualcomm. It also doesn’t help that Apple has already secured the initial batch of 4nm and 3nm process nodes from TSMC.
As a recap, the Snapdragon 895 is reported to come with a big jump in GPU performance. The Adreno 660 in the current Snapdragon 888 chips are set to be replaced with the Adreno 730; past naming schemes indicate that the increase in series number brings a relative performance boost with it too. Other features include an integrated X65 5G modem and a Spectra 680 image signal processor, both big jumps from the current Snapdragon 888.
Of course, it helps to take these leaks with a pinch of salt for now. Neither Qualcomm, Samsung or TSMC has confirmed anything as of yet. As for when we can finally see their new chip, you’ll probably have to wait till the end of the year—Qualcomm typically releases their new Snapdragon 800-series SoCs in December.
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