Qualcomm has announced an upgrade to its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The new chip is also likely to be compatible with major software updates for some time.

At the recent Snapdragon Summit, Chris Patrick, SVP and GM Mobile Handset at Qualcomm, told the assembled journalists that the new system-on-chip will support up to eight years of Android operating system updates for up to eight years (via Android Authority). According to the report, this support will include current OS versions, which means that we can expect seven years of Android upgrades (assuming the handset manufacturer releases that many upgrades).

This means that Android phone manufacturers can support their devices as long as they are willing to do so. Unfortunately, not all handset manufacturers will support older devices for eight or seven years. They have to customize their Android skins and features to work with Qualcomm's built-in Android board support package. Several Android device manufacturers, including Sony and Motorola, are known to provide only one Android update and only three or four years of security updates.

Existing Qualcomm chips, such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, can support up to four operating system upgrades and four years of security patches. This is Qualcomm's goal to allow its manufacturing partners to keep older phones updated longer.

Whether or not all handset manufacturers adopt this feature from Qualcomm, the ability to keep handsets updated longer is welcome. Hopefully, manufacturers like MediaTek, competitors, or even built-in chips like Samsung's Exynos SoC will receive similar support.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is manufactured in a 3nm process, a significant improvement over the current 4nm processor used in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The transistors are placed closer together, improving performance and power efficiency. It should be a very powerful chip.

In addition, Qualcomm is replacing the Kryo CPU in the previous SoC with a mobile-optimized Oryon CPU, the same Snapdragon X Elite silicon used in Microsoft's Copilot+ PC released this summer.

You will see just how powerful this new chip is once you get your hands on a device with this processor. Fortunately, a new cell phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite is coming soon.

They include the Asus ROG Phone 9, which will be available in November; Honor showed off the Magic 7 at the Snapdragon Summit and will debut it on October 30, but it may be several months before it is available in the US.