Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Impresses, Nears Apple M3 in Benchmarks
Qualcomm's latest flagship application processor (AP), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, currently fuels top-tier phones like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, serving as the powerhouse for all three Galaxy S24 models in the U.S. and China. Anticipated for release around October this year, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is poised to make its debut, boasting Qualcomm's proprietary Oryon CPU cores, set to replace the previously utilized Cortex cores from Arm Holdings.
Recent tests on an engineering sample of the chip showcased remarkable graphics performance. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 successfully ran Genshin Impact for an uninterrupted 45 minutes at a 1080p resolution, maintaining a steady 60fps frame rate, in line with the game's cap.
This is the first ever benchmark for Snapdragon 8 Gen 4! pic.twitter.com/a67YWtvDdP
— Nguyen Phi Hung (@negativeonehero) January 28, 2024
As per insights shared by X subscriber @negativeonehero (via Wccftech), a Geekbench 6 benchmark test revealed an impressive single-core score of 2845 and an outstanding multi-core score of 10628. This surpasses the multi-core scores of both the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on the Galaxy S24 Ultra (7249) and the A17 Pro SoC on the iPhone 15 Pro Max (7281).
Rumors suggest that Qualcomm might depart from the traditional low-power efficiency cores for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, taking inspiration from MediaTek's approach. The chip, codenamed "Sun," is expected to incorporate two substantial "Phoenix" cores and six intermediate "Phoenix" cores.
Drawing a parallel, MediaTek's Dimensity 9300 AP features four Cortex-X4 prime CPU cores and four Cortex-A720 performance CPU cores. Concerns about overheating arose due to the absence of efficiency cores, particularly in the Vivo X100 series powered by this chip. The upcoming Dimensity 9400 is rumored to introduce a configuration comprising three prime Cortex-X5 cores and five Cortex performance cores.
Manufactured by TSMC using its enhanced 3nm process node, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's Geekbench multi-core score closely trails the Apple M3 chip's multi-core score (10762) powering the MacBook Pro. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's impressive AnTuTu score of 3,133,570 has sparked excitement among phone enthusiasts, hinting at promising prospects for the Galaxy S25 Ultra in the upcoming year.