Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could bring a performance leap, rumor claims

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 mobile platform could feature considerable performance and efficiency gains, according to a cryptic post by known leaker Revegnus on X (formerly Twitter). The post claims that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips can achieve a multi-core score of 10,000 in Geekbench 6 benchmarks. Additionally, Revegnus says that the chips only draw 8 watts of power, which is extremely low for that level of performance. For reference, Apple’s A17 Pro chip — the gold standard of mobile processors — reaches about 7,200 in Geekbench 6 multi-core tests.

However, the post from Revegnus does not include any evidence of this claim. It’s hard to put too much stock into this rumor until we learn more about Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

Though this rumor may be unsubstantiated at the moment, there is reason to believe that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could bring a performance breakthrough. Qualcomm recently announced the Snapdragon X Elite chipset at its Snapdragon Summit event, which brings laptop-class performance that can rival Apple Silicon. These performance gains are made possible by custom Oryon cores, which are designed by Qualcomm in-house.

Previously, Qualcomm used stock core designs from Arm to make its processors. Designing custom cores was the key to Apple’s leap with M-series chips back in 2020. And it’s possible Qualcomm could find similar success with Oryon cores.

Qualcomm also announced at the event that the custom Oryon cores would come to mobile processors in 2024. That should line up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 platform. Early tests of Snapdragon X Elite, which feature the custom cores, show that it can match or beat Apple’s M2 chipset in some cases. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 platform set to feature these same Oryon cores, the benchmark claims from Revegnus don’t seem too farfetched.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could also bring improved efficiency

With multi-core scores potentially being in five-digit numbers, it’s fair to wonder how much power the chipset would draw. However, if the tip from Revegnus is to be believed, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The post states that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 platform records these benchmarks at an 8W power draw. That’s nearly half of the power consumption of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platform, which draws around 14W.

The 8W power consumption would still put Qualcomm behind Apple, though. The company’s latest A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max only draws a handful of watts, typically around 3W or 4W. This is part of the reason why iPhones provide all-day battery life despite having smaller battery cells than most Android phones. By all accounts, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 definitely looks like a step in the right direction. Keep in mind that the platform’s release is still pretty far out. And these rumors will likely get refined over the coming months.