2024 Flagship Smartphone Chip Showdown: A18, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and Dimensity 9400 Who Will Rule?

2024 Flagship Smartphone Chip Showdown: A18, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and Dimensity 9400 Who Will Rule?In recent years, the smartphone chip market has become increasingly competitive. The rise of Qualcomm and MediaTek has challenged Apple's dominance

2024 Flagship Smartphone Chip Showdown: A18, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and Dimensity 9400 Who Will Rule?

In recent years, the smartphone chip market has become increasingly competitive. The rise of Qualcomm and MediaTek has challenged Apple's dominance. This year, all three giants have adopted 3nm fabrication technology, narrowing the performance gap even further. Who will emerge as the king of the next-generation flagship chip: A18, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, or Dimensity 9400? Let's delve into their respective strengths and potential challenges.

Apple A18 Series: AI Computing Power Upgraded, Power Consumption Optimized

In recent years, the progress of Apple's A-series chips has gradually slowed down, with the A17 series even being dubbed "Dragon Fruit." However, Apple appears to be holding back a big move, planning to break through with the A18.

According to various sources, Apple will equip the A18 with more NPU computing units. The reason behind this move is that the room for improvement in CPU and GPU performance has gradually narrowed, while AI accelerators offer greater design improvement potential. Additionally, the rise of AI functions and applications in recent years has placed higher demands on mobile computing power. Apple's layout in computational photography, systems, and other areas also requires strong chip computing power support.

The A17 Pro already boasts a 16-core NPU, with a performance of 35 TOPS, while the M4 achieves 38 TOPS. The A18 Pro's computing power is expected to surpass the M4, aligning with Apple's AI plans.

However, for ordinary consumers, the actual experience improvement brought by increased computing power is limited. They are more concerned about chip power consumption and gaming performance. According to leaks, the Apple A18 processor will adopt TSMC's latest 3nm fabrication process, reducing energy consumption by 5%-10% compared to its predecessor. The A18 Pro sees a 20% improvement in single-core performance and a 13% gain in multi-core performance.

In terms of benchmarks, the A18 Pro scores approximately 3500 in Geekbench6 single-core performance, while multi-core performance is around 8400. Although the A18 Pro achieves significant single-core improvements, whether it can meet users' gaming performance expectations requires real-world experience verification.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4: Self-Developed Architecture Takes Flight, Massive Performance Enhancement

Unlike Apple's minor tweaks, Qualcomm has introduced the brand-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 this year, featuring the self-developed Oryon CPU. This is the first SOC to adopt a self-developed architecture, breaking free from dependence on ARM's public architecture and truly "flying solo."

Based on benchmark data, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 achieves a score of 2800+ in Geekbench6 for single-core and 8800+ for multi-core, marking a massive performance improvement over its predecessor. Notably, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 boasts a clock speed of 4.26 GHz. Coupled with a full-core design similar to MediaTek's, it has the potential to become an exceptional processor, but it also carries the risk of excessive power consumption and heat generation.

On the GPU front, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be equipped with the Adreno 750, significantly boosting performance and incorporating AI frame interpolation for further enhanced gaming capabilities. However, high performance also means higher power consumption, requiring manufacturers to adopt larger heat sink areas for the chip to operate at full capacity. Additionally, the new fabrication process increases chip costs. Foreign media estimate that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be priced at $220-240, representing a 25%-30% increase over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Currently, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is in its final testing phase and is expected to launch in early November, with Xiaomi securing the exclusive premiere.

MediaTek Dimensity 9400: Full-Core Design, Significant Energy Efficiency Enhancement

MediaTek successfully entered the flagship chip market last year with the impressive performance of the Dimensity 9300. This year, MediaTek continues its push with the Dimensity 9400.

The Dimensity 9400 also utilizes TSMC's second-generation 3nm fabrication process and continues to adopt a full-core design, featuring 1 X5 ultra-large core + 3 X4 ultra-large cores + 4 A7 large cores. In Geekbench6, the Dimensity 9400 achieves a single-core performance of 2700, a 30% improvement, potentially catching up with the Apple A17 Pro. Multi-core performance reaches 9800, a 24.7% increase over the Dimensity 9300.

Furthermore, the Dimensity 9400 boasts a 35% improvement in CPU energy efficiency, a remarkable figure indicating its outstanding performance in low-to-medium frequency scenarios. On the GPU side, the new Immortalis G925 GPU delivers a 37% improvement in graphics application performance, a 52% enhancement in complex object ray tracing performance, and a 30% reduction in energy consumption at equivalent performance levels.

Overall, the Dimensity 9400 demonstrates significant improvements in performance and energy efficiency, and is expected to be released before the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

Conclusion: Each Chip Has Its Own Pros and Cons, the Ultimate Winner Awaits Verification

This year's flagship smartphone chips all exhibit notable progress, particularly with the adoption of 3nm technology, making Qualcomm and MediaTek's performance even more anticipated. However, each company also faces some lurking concerns.

Apple continues to make limited improvements in CPU and GPU; Qualcomm may be overemphasizing performance at the expense of power consumption; MediaTek's single-core performance remains to be seen if it can achieve a qualitative leap. These questions can only be answered after the products are launched.

Ultimately, the determination of who will be the next-generation flagship chip king lies in the hands of the market. Let's wait and see.