Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Targeting Apple A19 Pro with 3nm N3P Process and SME Instructions

Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Targeting Apple A19 Pro with 3nm N3P Process and SME InstructionsRecent leaks from the prominent Chinese tech blogger @Digital Chat Station suggest that Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip will boast the SME instruction set and be manufactured using TSMC's cutting-edge 3nm N3P process. The chip is reportedly aiming for a Geekbench 6 single-core score nearing 4000 points, promising impressive performance and posing a significant challenge to Apple's A-series chips

Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Targeting Apple A19 Pro with 3nm N3P Process and SME Instructions

Recent leaks from the prominent Chinese tech blogger @Digital Chat Station suggest that Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip will boast the SME instruction set and be manufactured using TSMC's cutting-edge 3nm N3P process. The chip is reportedly aiming for a Geekbench 6 single-core score nearing 4000 points, promising impressive performance and posing a significant challenge to Apple's A-series chips.

This news is a bombshell in the mobile chip industry. The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's expected performance stems from its advanced technology and architecture. Firstly, the adoption of TSMC's 3nm N3P process directly enhances performance and power efficiency. As an upgraded version of TSMC's 3nm process, N3P offers significant improvements in transistor density, power consumption, and performance, laying a solid foundation for the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's high performance.

Secondly, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's support for the SME instruction set further strengthens its multimedia and graphics processing capabilities. SME, or Scalable MultiMedia Extensions, is part of the Arm64 architecture. By providing more vector registers and longer vector lengths, it significantly improves the processor's efficiency in handling multimedia and graphics computation tasks. This is crucial given the ever-increasing multimedia demands of modern mobile devices.

The advantages of the SME instruction set are multifaceted:

1. Multimedia Processing: SME significantly accelerates video encoding, decoding, and image processing, leading to smoother video playback and faster image processing. This is vital for high-definition video shooting, editing, and viewing, and provides stronger underlying support for image processing applications on mobile devices.

2. Graphics Rendering: For 3D graphics rendering and game development, SME's vector processing capabilities significantly improve rendering speed and image quality, resulting in smoother and more realistic gaming experiences. This is a major boon for users seeking high-performance gaming.

3. Scientific Computing: SME is also applicable to scientific computing requiring extensive vector operations, such as large-scale numerical simulations and data analysis. While scientific computing on mobile devices is relatively less common, SME's versatility extends beyond multimedia and gaming, opening possibilities for future applications.

Beyond the advanced process technology and SME instruction set, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 features CPU architecture optimizations. It is understood that the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 will retain the first-generation CPU cluster design of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, still employing a 2 super-core + 6 large-core configuration (2P+6E). While the core count remains unchanged, the clock speed will be further increased, directly leading to a noticeable performance boost.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite achieved a maximum clock speed of 4.32GHz, scoring over 3200 points in Geekbench 5 single-core and over 10000 points in multi-core. In comparison, the Apple A18 Pro scored around 3500 in single-core and 9300 in multi-core. As an iterative product, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's performance goal is clearly to benchmark against the concurrently released Apple A19 Pro.

Considering the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's targeted Geekbench 6 single-core score of nearly 4000 points, this indicates a significant single-core performance improvement over the Snapdragon 8 Elite, potentially surpassing the Apple A18 Pro. If this score is achieved, it would mark a major breakthrough for Qualcomm in the high-end mobile chip market.

Currently, the specific release date and further details of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 remain unannounced. However, based on current leaks, this chip is highly competitive in terms of performance. Its advanced process technology, SME instruction set, and optimized CPU architecture will deliver a more powerful mobile computing experience. The emergence of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 will undoubtedly intensify competition in the high-end mobile chip market and offer consumers more choices. We eagerly await to see if this chip will meet expectations, putting significant pressure on, or even surpassing, the Apple A19 Pro.