Qualcomm could unveil next Snapdragon flagship chip early

Qualcomm typically unveils its new flagship Snapdragon chipset in December, but it looks like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 could come early this year.

As spotted by GSM Arena (via Android Police), Qualcomm posted — and later removed — about a Snapdragon Summit happening from November 14th to 17th this year. The annual Snapdragon Summit is where the company usually unveils its next big Snapdragon chipset.

That would put the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 unveil about two weeks ahead of last year’s 8 Gen 1 reveal, which happened on December 1st.

However, considering Qualcomm quickly took down the post, it’s likely the company didn’t intend to announce the event this early. Moreover, it’s possible the dates aren’t finalized yet.

All that said, the announcement date ultimately doesn’t matter that much. Qualcomm usually announces the Snapdragon 8-series chips in December, but we don’t see phones with the new chips until the following year.

More important than the announcement is the chip itself, which Android Police reports might be a little odd this year. According to the publication, Qualcomm plans to ditch the ‘1+3+4’ configuration in the 8 Gen 1 for a ‘1+2+2+3’ core set-up in the Gen 2. These correspond to the yet-to-be-announced Cortex-X3 core, two Cortex-A720 cores, two Cortex-A710 cores and three Cortext-A510 cores. The 8 Gen 1 had a Cortex-X2 Prime, three A710s and four A510s.

Although weird, Android Police notes that the departure is likely an effort on Qualcomm’s part to maintain support for 32-bit apps. Newer cores like the Cortex-X3 and A720 cores likely won’t support 32-bit apps as the industry moves to phase them out, but 32-bit remains popular in China, which is a major market for Qualcomm. The rumoured A710s in the Gen 2 will be able to handle the 32-bit apps.

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Source: GSM Arena Via: Android Police