The latest whispers surrounding Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 system-on-a-chip (SOC) processor suggest it will be a serious power hog. We’re talking about needing batteries over 6,000mAh. These rumors — and that’s all they are currently — are raising eyebrows in the tech world.
The rumors come from a Weibo channel and were reported on by Mobile Syrup. If true, it means any phone packing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will have a shorter battery life and require a bulkier casing to handle the larger batteries and vapor chambers. And we’re not sure exactly how much faster this SOC will be compared to the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
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What do the rumors say?
Notable leakers with solid track records say this thing will be a beast
Two reliable sources have leaked information about the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Leaker Digital Chat Station is one of the bigger names in leaks, and they have a record for being right. This insider is suspected of working within the Xiaomi technology park, granting them access to many production secrets.
The other leaker is South Korean DC Insider, who claims to have received a fully assembled Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip and was able to test its power characteristics.
According to DC Insider, the new chip features six Phoenix L and two Phoenix M CPU cores that could lead to a total power draw of a whopping 14.2W. That’s a huge increase from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s draw of 11.3W.
The implications of these leaks are troubling.
- Large batteries needed: Manufacturers may have to resort to enormous 6,000mAh batteries to power the chip throughout the day. This means bigger and bulkier smartphones.
- More heat: Larger batteries and more power-hungry chips mean more risk of overheating, particularly when gaming. This will make devices uncomfortable to hold and could throttle performance, ruining any gains we might see from a more powerful chip.
If these rumors are true, and the cascade of reports suggests they are, we could see a new era of enormous Android flagships very soon.
Why would Qualcomm make a power-hungry SOC?
It might not be for everyone
We suspect that, if these rumors are true, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 won’t be found in every flagship. The chip will instead be used for a niche segment of the high-end Android market. A few things help inform our suspicions:
- Raw performance: Rumors suggest Qualcomm is pushing the chip’s clock speeds to achieve benchmark-busting results. The average Joe won’t ever need this kind of power, but hardcore gamers and mobile videographers could benefit.
- Core imbalance: Qualcomm potentially focused heavily on performance cores with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and possibly ditched efficiency cores altogether. This is great for raw power, which is something only a specialized device would require.
- Manufacturing processes: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be potentially based on 3nm manufacturing processes, but we’re unsure to what extent this will offset the power demands of its rumored design. Nevertheless, 3nm usually translates into higher-end chipsets.
We still need to remember that this is all speculation. Only Qualcomm knows the actual reasons behind the chip’s power draw, and they remain mum on the matter.
Should we be concerned?
It’s still too early to panic, but caution is warranted
It’s essential to remember that these are all still just rumors. They may come from reliable sources, but even these leakers sometimes get it wrong. The units they got their hands on may not be the final version released to the world, and the true extent of any power consumption issues won’t be clear until Qualcomm officially unveils the new chip.
Even if the leaks are spot-on, concerns could potentially be addressed through optimizations closer to launch. After all, Qualcomm has a vested interest in ensuring its chips are as power-efficient as possible. It is a tight market with fierce competitors. Google’s Tensor chips and Apple’s A-series bionic chips are Qualcomm’s biggest competition, so we don’t see how Qualcomm will let something as serious as out-of-control power draw hold them back.
The tech industry has the power to surprise us, and there are always people working away diligently in the background to ensure their products are the best they can be.
Our verdict: wait and see
There’s no point in getting worked up over something that doesn’t exist
There will certainly be raised eyebrows if the rumors about Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 are correct. After all, we could be looking at impacts on battery life, phone size, and thermal performance on new phones.
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But it’s important to remain calm until real-world testing becomes available. There are plenty of examples of early leaks proving overblown or manufacturers finding solutions to problems. Until Qualcomm officially releases the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, we remain unconcerned.
