A ton of attention is being focused on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, but only a modicum of it is being diverted to the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. After a torrent of leaks surrounding Qualcomm’s top-end SoC, some fresh information has leaked involving the company’s other 2nm chipset, with details revealing that it’ll share a similarity with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 . However, don’t count on this as positive news, because Android phone makers will still be forced to pay a hefty premium for the silicon.
Qualcomm to maintain the same package size for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but the increased price will be due to the 2nm node
The truckload of leaks from Reptalica are spilling the beans on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 , with the latest revelation discussing the package size of the standard version. Apparently, the non-Pro version is also expected to measure 126.2 mm², indicating that Qualcomm will try to keep costs down by possibly re-using the same die as before.
While the obvious benefit is lower production costs, it does mean the company cannot utilize the excess space for a bigger cache, larger GPU area and other perks. These differences will make the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro slightly superior, as the latter has been rumored to boast the biggest L2 cache for any Qualcomm chipset, minimizing latency and improving power efficiency.
Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro is said to have a 50 percent increased bus width area for the GPU compared to its less powerful brother, which are all attributes of a chipset with more package space at its disposal. However, even though Qualcomm will try to reduce manufacturing costs for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 by using the same package size as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it may not be able to avoid a massive price hike, and it’s all thanks to TSMC’s 2nm technology.
What’s interesting about Reptalica’s post is that TSMC’s first-generation N2 node is mentioned, whereas countless rumors have claimed that Qualcomm will use the slightly better N2P process to gain an edge over Apple . Then again, N2 could be utilized for the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 to further reduce wafer costs, but there’s no confirmation on this.
What we do know is that Qualcomm’s handset business is struggling due to the ongoing memory situation, so perhaps offering a competitive price for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 might be a decent start towards reviving its primary revenue generator.
News Source: Reptalica
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