Expected to power the Samsung Galaxy S25 and other upcoming Android flagship phones, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8GEN4 may upgrade its power before it becomes official to accommodate Apple and its latest silicon. According to a tip from Jasonwill on X (via Wccftech), Qualcomm has chosen to increase the clock speed of its Snapdragon 8GEN4 chip from its originally planned 4GHz to 6GHz by May 4.26. jasonwill, however, acknowledges that there is some uncertainty in this information, so be prepared for any potential rebuttal or retraction if he and other leakers learn more.

This last-minute overclocking is believed to be running the apple A18 chip, which is expected to launch a new chip with the iPhone16 series later this year. Qualcomm probably thought it stood a good chance against Apple's 2024 phone offering, but the iPad Pro2024 and its M4 chip could indicate the need to up its game.

According to leaked benchmarks, the newly announced iPad Pro seems to be the best-performing tablet ever. While Snapdragon 8GEN4 is not a direct competitor to the M4 chip that Apple has probably designed for use on Macs as well as the Ipad Pro, Snapdragon can guarantee that future Samsung Galaxy Tab s models and other devices will also, basically, apply that learning from Apple's development of the M4 chip to the iPhone16 and iPhone16Pro A18 chips expected to run. You can do it.

The Snapdragon 8gen4 is claimed to be Qualcomm's first 3-nanometer process chipset and is the smallest transistor that allows for improved performance and power efficiency. Apple has already adopted the technology on the iPhone15Pro's A17Pro chip, and also on the M4 chip that powers the latest iPad Pro. It will be used again for the iPhone16 and iPhone16Pro A18 chipsets, so naturally Qualcomm wants a place where it can catch up with Apple. It is also said that Snapdragon 8gen4 is based on the laptop-grade Snapdragon X Elite chipset, which is a different approach to previous chips. This could mean that 8Gen4 is more focused on AI capabilities and multi-core performance. 

However, X Elite uses a different instruction set (the basic code that controls the device's CPU) than other mobile chips, so running an app designed for earlier Snapdragon chips can cause some unexpected side effects. In addition, as is often the case with increasing the computing power of mobile devices, the chip may also have a higher operating temperature, which increases battery consumption and requires additional cooling. Putting these concerns aside for now, hopefully Qualcomm can improve the performance of Snapdragon 8GEN4 — giving phones like the Galaxy S25 and OnePlus13 a chance to fight Apple's iPhone16 lineage. Usually in the fall you will see a new Snapdragon 8 series chip, followed by the first phone to use it by the end of the year and the start of the following year. 

For the latest news and rumors of this next-generation Android chipset, see Snapdragon 8GEN4, Apple's rival A18silicon for more on the rumors, focusing on the iPhone16 and iPhone16Pro hubs.