What you need to know
- Rumors from an overseas tipster claim that Qualcomm is busy creating a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 “Pro” to go along with the “base” SoC.
- This chip will allegedly take its performance even higher, but the tipster states it might only have “Ultra” phones in its sights.
- Previous rumors claim the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will built on TSMC’s 2nm process with a stronger N2P for performance and power gains.
It’s not strange to already imagine what Qualcomm’s next flagship SoC could look like (or be named), but a new leak claims there might be a Pro.
Following Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite 5 late last year, rumors have surfaced about a Gen 6. Now, prominent Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) says there’s more to those rumors, like a second variant (via Gizmochina). DCS claims that Qualcomm is working on a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, alongside the expected 8 Elite Gen 6 in 2026. The tipster alleges that the chip bears model number SMSM8975, a slightly modified title from what was reported for the basic Gen 6.
Either way, the tipster says that this Gen 6 Pro would only be reserved for “high-end imaging flagships.” Their social media post adds that this is speculative at this time.
The publication adds that further statements from the tipster state that Qualcomm could look to make this Pro chip available for “Ultra” phones. Moreover, the Gen 6 Pro is rumored to be a “full-performance” flagship-level chip, likely to boost Ultra devices over Plus and base models using the standard or original Gen 6.
Aside from the rumors, it’s unclear just what strengths a Gen 6 Pro could have over the base version. With how things are positioned, it sounds like a “For Galaxy” situation, where Samsung’s version is overclocked, squeezing a little more speed (GHz) out of the Snapdragon chip. We can take this Pro rumor with a grain of salt for now, and see where we’re at later this year.
What’s Elite could go Pro
We’re several months out (at least) from any sort of Qualcomm announcements, but we’ve already got rumors about the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 to toy with. Right around the time when the 8 Elite Gen 5 launched, rumors for its next iteration were already talking about a power boost. It’s already been rumored that this chip will be built off TSMC’s 2nm process (for the Gen 6, too), which could bring an amped up N2P for performance and power consumption improvements.
Other rumors from last November claim the chip could even support LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage for efficiency purposes.
We’ve been hearing warnings that phones could rise in price this year, and rumors about Qualcomm’s next chip are along those lines. Supposedly, Qualcomm’s next-gen tech for its 8 Elite Gen 6 is expensive. Tipsters claim that the chip’s price could rise sharply, and that price will likely fall right in the consumer’s lap.
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