Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 coming in October with these features

Mar 20,2023
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It also seems to be a given that the chip will include support for the new Snapdragon Satellite tech that Qualcomm announced at CES 2023, allowing emergency communications without normal mobile signal – and eventually even basic two-way messaging. This is actually already included in the 8 Gen 2, and has been made available to manufacturers to include in new handsets, so it seems certain it will appear in the next generation too.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is already looking promising, based on a few rumors. If Qualcomm decides to launch it in October, it will be unveiled just a month after Apple officially announces the A17 Bionic, so it will be one heck of a smartphone chipset matchup. An earlier engineering sample of Qualcomm’s future SoC boasted single-core and multi-core scores that decimate the A16 Bionic, with a rumor claiming that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 would also consume 20 percent less power than its predecessor.

Which phones will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?

Obviously, with the release date still far in the distance, we don’t have any confirmed reports of which phones will come with the Gen 3 chip onboard, but going by past history we can make a few confident predictions.

With the previous generation, some of the first devices out of the gate were the Vivo X90 Pro+, Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, and OnePlus 11. We would be pretty certain that those phones’ successors will also be racing to get the new silicon in their flagships for 2024.

As with most years, the Qualcomm processor should also make it to many other flagships, including from companies like Samsung, Motorola, and Oppo.

No foundry plans have been revealed for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with some rumors suggesting that Qualcomm will take a dual-sourcing route

There might be a few reasons why Revegnus suggested on Twitter that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 could arrive an entire month earlier than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 announcement. For one thing, Qualcomm could have two versions planned, a regular one and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy exclusively made for Samsung to use in its Galaxy S24 series for 2024.

An earlier launch of the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 means that Qualcomm will have more time to focus on optimizing the version developed for Samsung, and just like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, it will likely sport higher CPU and GPU clock speeds. Qualcomm may have also solved its supply chain issue by adopting a dual-sourcing approach, where it taps both TSMC and Samsung to mass produce the SoC. Qualcomm may launch the new SoC in October instead of November, according to the latest rumor

Snapdragon X75 5G modem confirmed

A big clue to satellite connectivity coming as standard on the 8 Gen 3 – though far from confirmed – is the official announcement of the Snapdragon X75, Qualcomm’s latest 5G modem.

Announced in February 2023, the X75 is the latest next-gen 5G modem component that Qualcomm tends to announce at this time of year in advance of its flagship chipsets. The X70 was launched in February 2022 and ended up in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip come November, hinting heavily that the X75 will duly make its way into the 8 Gen 3.

Qualcomm says the X75 is the world’s first 5G Advanced-ready modem-RF system. Translation: its transceiver can singularly handle mmWave and sub-6 band 5G, readying it for the evolution of 5G networks that use both frequencies.

When will the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 be released?

We have no official date so far confirming the arrival of the new chip, but Qualcomm has established a pretty regular release schedule over the past few years, so we think it’s highly likely that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be released in November or December 2023.

This would be in keeping with all of the Snapdragon 8 mobile processors, which made their debuts around the same time:

We haven’t heard any reports that this schedule has been disrupted, so its looks good for a winter release this year.

What new features will we see in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?

We haven’t seen much in the way of specs or any definite enhancements that Qualcomm is working on, but we do know one thing just about for certain and this is that the new processor will be based on a 3nm process.

This has been at the centre of some controversy that has surrounded the early reports around the Gen 3 processor. Samsung was the first to achieve this size, but initially it was reported to have only managed to return a yield of 20% per wafer, which obviously isn’t efficient and would result in increased prices for the processors. Qualcomm has now reportedly moved production to Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC, which has managed a much higher 75-80% return.

Samsung did improve its output though, as GSMArena states that once the Korean giant had partnered with US company Silicon Frontline Technology the yield increased to around 60-70%.

Conclusion

Qualcomm holds its annual Snapdragon Summit in the month of November, and its schedule did not change when announcing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. However, the company might have different plans with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, as it is rumored to launch its next flagship SoC sometime in October.