Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen4 preview: frequency breaks through 4GHz to benchmark Apple A18 Pro

According to information disclosed by blogger jasonwill101, Qualcomm is currently redesigning its Snapdragon 8 Gen4 processor to increase the new target frequency to 4.26GHz. This move is intended to cope with competition from Apple’s M4/A18 Pro processor.

It is understood that Qualcomm is confident in the redesigned processor. They believe that Snapdragon 8 Gen4 is expected to reach the target frequency with TSMC’s 3-nanometer “N3E” process.

However, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen4 does not support the Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) function. Considering that Apple has adopted the ARMv9 architecture and supports “Scalable Matrix Extension” technology (SME), and Qualcomm’s competitors lack related features, so The new 4.26GHz target frequency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor may be to close the performance gap.

It should be noted that mobile phone manufacturers seem to need to use a larger heat sink area to ensure that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 can continue to operate at high performance.

According to currently disclosed news, Snapdragon 8 Gen4 will abandon the ARM public version architecture and adopt Qualcomm’s self-developed Nuvia Phoenix architecture. Compared with the ARM architecture, the Nuvia Phoenix architecture has higher advantages in performance. This is also the first time for Qualcomm Completely self-developed SoC.

Qualcomm previously acquired Nuvia, which has excellent performance in high-performance processor design. Through the acquisition of Nuvia, Qualcomm will be able to further enhance its independent research and development capabilities and integrate more core technologies into its own chips.

Editor’s comments:

This news shows Qualcomm’s efforts in coping with competitive pressure and technical challenges, and implies that the fierce competition in the smartphone market will become more intense in the future.