We’ve only recently started seeing phones with the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in them, but already we’re hearing about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and specifically that it might land sooner than expected.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was unveiled last November, but according to a Weibo (opens in new tab) posting from leaker Digital Chat Station (via NotebookCheck (opens in new tab)), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will land a bit earlier in the year.
They don’t get more specific than that, but they add that the first phones to include this chipset will probably still arrive in the fourth quarter – so sometime between October and December.
That means that, while the chipset might be announced early, the phones that will include it will probably still be the expected ones. Potentially, we could see a phone use it in October, which wouldn’t have been possible if the chipset didn’t land until November like last year, but there aren’t many obvious candidates in that month.
Of course, as with all leaks, we’d take this with a pinch of salt, but the source has a good track record, so this could well be right.
If so, then while we might not see any unexpected Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 smartphones, this could be a sign that there won’t be a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2, which has its own implications.
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If the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 lands earlier, then that shortens the window for a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 to launch in, which might mean we won’t get one.
After all, this year a Plus version could quickly find itself outdated. Not to mention the fact that if Qualcomm is bringing the Gen 3 launch forward then it’s likely focusing its resources on that chipset.
So, there might not be a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2, which in turn means the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 – which would otherwise have been prime candidates for that chipset – will instead probably be stuck with the same Gen 2 chipset as the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.
Not that this is a bad chipset by any means, but it will be a shame if we don’t see power improvements given that these phones aren’t likely to land until around August.
Based on past form, some other phones, such as the Motorola Razr 2023, would also have been prime candidates for the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2, so they might miss out as well.
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