What you need to know
- Qualcomm is said to be skipping the standard 2nm process and jumping directly to TSMC's refined N2P node for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.
- The shift to the 2nm N2P process promises up to an 18% performance boost or a massive 36% reduction in power consumption compared to the current chip.
- The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is expected to cost significantly more, and that increase will likely be reflected in the next wave of flagship phone prices.
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We’re all just getting acquainted with the phones running the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but the rumor mill is already churning out interesting details on its successor. And we could be looking at a major leap in technology that may redefine flagship performance, although it’s supposedly bringing a painful price hike along for the ride.
The chip in question is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, reportedly codenamed SM8975. Reliable leaker Digital Chat Station said on Weibo that Qualcomm is apparently skipping straight to TSMC's most advanced 2nm manufacturing process, N2P (via Android Authority).
To put that in perspective, the current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip — which powers top-tier phones like the Xiaomi 17 and OnePlus 15 — is built on a 3nm process. By jumping directly to the refined N2P node, Qualcomm is bypassing the first-gen N2 process entirely.
The N2P process represents TSMC’s second-generation 2nm technology, and it’s already looking impressive on paper. Compared to the N3E node (used for the 3nm-based Snapdragon 8 Elite), N2P promises up to 18% better performance or 36% lower power consumption.
It also packs around 1.15x the chip density of the current 3nm N3E process, allowing for more transistors in the same space. Simply put, this is the kind of tech shift that could redefine what Android flagships can do over the next few years.
A full platform overhaul
Qualcomm is also planning to add support for LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. These upgrades should make phones faster and more efficient.
The new memory and storage standards are also designed with AI-driven tasks in mind, so they may come in handy for the increasingly machine-learning-heavy world of Android software and camera systems.
Now for the bad news. This cutting-edge technology is expensive. DCS says the cost of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chip itself is expected to increase greatly. That cost won't be eaten by the manufacturers. It will be passed directly to you.
So, while the next generation of elite smartphones is poised to be incredibly powerful, those eye-watering prices are only going to get higher.
