If you’re wondering why Qualcomm opted to do its Dual 8 Elite strategy this year, you’re not alone. Looking at the spec sheet, it seemed like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 were basically the same, but that is not the case. The packaging is different, and the ‘Extreme’ model is more geared towards AI features.
Qualcomm told Android Headlines that it expects demand for the two platforms to divide across brands and device types, rather than converge overwhelmingly on one version. Chris Patrick, SVP and GM of Handsets at Qualcomm, said that gaming phones are showing strong interest in the Extreme platform’s peak GPU and neural-fusion capabilities. Which is not very surprising at all.
Patrick also mentioned that manufacturers may opt to use both chips within one brand or choose differently across brands. For instance, Xiaomi is using both chips in its 18 Pro series. Patrick mentioned that he expects a meaningful spread across the industry, unlike the PC market that will mostly settle on one option.
Extreme packaging improves cooling but uses more board space
As mentioned, the ‘Extreme’ variant has higher performance numbers than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and the Gen 6 shows improvement over its predecessor. And a big part of that is actually the board space. It uses more space on the logic board, but it also improves cooling. A big reason why gaming phones are interested in this one.
Essentially, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 uses a traditional package-on-package setup, with memory stacked directly on top of the die. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 uses the offset package-on-package (PoP) setup. This allows for better cooling.
There is a trade-off here: the Extreme is physically larger and uses more board area, but it remains smaller than placing memory fully on the board, which is what a lot of PCs do.
The post Here’s Why Qualcomm Made Two Different Flagship Chips This Year, and It’s Not Just About AI appeared first on Android Headlines.
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