Writing on Weibo, well-known source Digital Chat Station revealed that the development of the Snapdragon 8 Elite v2 (SM8850) has accelerated, indicating that Qualcomm may launch it earlier than the first-gen model, which was uncovered this October (via GSMArena). However, Digital Chat Station didn’t specify when the next-gen SoC will debut.
Much like the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the upcoming chip will be based on TSMC’s 3nm process (N3P node), as revealed by the same source previously. Digital Chat Station also claims that the GPU performance of the next-gen Snapdragon chip will witness an uptick, though they didn’t say by how much.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite v2 could end up costing more than its predecessor
It’s still too early to say much about this particular leak, but an earlier-than-scheduled launch of Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship SoC would mean we’ll see more devices using its latest and greatest chipset before the end of 2025.
It’s important to remember that the Snapdragon 8 Elite (v1) is yet to make it to most global markets, except for the iQOO 13. That will change imminently, though, as Samsung and OnePlus bring their flagships to the world. With these factors in mind, we recommend taking this info about the Snapdragon 8 Elite v2’s early arrival with a grain of salt.
Meanwhile, recent reports have indicated that Qualcomm may be looking to charge more for its second-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset due to a surge in application processor (AP) costs. However, a 20% boost in performance is expected from the second-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which may soften the blow to a certain extent.
These increased costs will inevitably be passed onto consumers, so don’t be surprised if flagship Android phones become even more expensive over the next 12 to 18 months.
