Qualcomm is reportedly developing a “Pro” or “Plus” variant of its Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, according to a recent rumor from China. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 was initially unveiled in April and has been implemented in seven smartphones as an upper-midrange option.
The rumored “Pro/Plus” version is speculated to be a higher-binned chip with overclocked cores, potentially delivering enhanced performance compared to the standard version. The exact performance gains remain to be seen.
The launch date is currently unknown, but Qualcomm is expected to announce the new variant at its annual Snapdragon Summit later this month. The Summit is also anticipated to feature the unveiling of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Concerns have been raised regarding the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4’s heat generation, attributed to the absence of Cortex-A5 efficiency cores, a feature present in the 8 Gen 2, 8 Gen 3, and 8s Gen 3 chips, which are all fabricated on a 4nm process. The removal of these cores has been described as a “bad decision,” with the 8s Gen 3, 8 Gen 3, and 8 Gen 2 models remaining popular choices into 2025 due to their power efficiency.
