Qualcomm Announces the Snapdragon 6 and 4 Gen 1

[TheLostSwede]

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announces Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Mobile Platforms, providing advanced technology solutions to address the mid-tier and mass-volume segment. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 provides illuminating capture, hard-hitting game play, and intuitive AI assistance. It extends users' reach with expansive connectivity and sustained, efficient power and performance across the board. The latest 4-series platform, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, offers impressive performance and AI to make interactions seamless and intuitive. Plus, this platform provides advanced photography features to enable striking capture, as well as improved connectivity so users can share endlessly.

"Both Snapdragon 6 and Snapdragon 4 provide upgrades in their respective series to enable advancements in capture, connectivity, entertainment, and AI. These new mobile platforms help our customers to deliver advanced solutions for consumers," said Deepu John, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.




Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Mobile Platform
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 fuels dynamic experiences with sustained power and performance. It integrates a triple ISP allowing for illuminating capture from three cameras at once with gigapixel speeds. Plus, users can snap up to 108 MP photos and capture video with computational HDR via support for staggered HDR image sensors—a first in the Snapdragon 6-series. Snapdragon 6 features the 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine enabling up to 3x improved AI performance compared to its predecessor for intelligent assistance across the board, including AI-based activity tracking. With hard-hitting gaming features that deliver up to 35% quicker graphics rendering and up to 40% faster processing, Snapdragon 6 powers HDR gaming at an ultra-smooth 60+ FPS while delivering real-time responses and high-quality visuals for winning entertainment. Powered by the Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF System, this platform enables expansive global connectivity by supporting 3GPP Release 16 5G and 2.9 Gbps peak 5G download speeds, while Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 deliver 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E—another first in the Snapdragon 6-series.

Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Mobile Platform
The first 6 nm 4-series platform, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 boasts impressive performance and multi-day battery life. The platform features up to 15% improved CPU and up to 10% enhanced GPU compared to the previous generation, allowing users to multitask smoothly and enjoy immersive entertainment. Utilizing premium camera technology, Snapdragon 4 includes a triple ISP and Multi-Frame Noise Reduction for crisp, detailed photos. Users can also capture photos up to 108MP—the best in the Snapdragon 4-series. The Qualcomm AI Engine makes on-device experiences more seamless and intuitive. Users can get support in an instant with always-on voice assistants or communicate clearly thanks to echo and background noise suppression. Snapdragon 4 harnesses the Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System for blazing fast 2.5 Gbps peak 5G download speeds, and FastConnect 6200 for premium 2x2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to make every endeavor a breeze.

Supporting Quotes
"At Motorola, we strive to deliver smarter technology to our consumers, and we are proud to have Qualcomm Technologies alongside us in this journey," said Francois La Flamme, head of strategy and chief of marketing office, Motorola. "As a company, we will continue to find the perfect balance between performance and affordability by utilizing the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Mobile platform in the future."

"Based on our long-lasting collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, we can't wait to introduce our upcoming new iQOO smartphone adopting the new Snapdragon mobile platform. The iQOO Z6 Lite will be one of the firsts smartphones globally to be powered by the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Mobile Platform," said Nipun Marya, chief executive officer, iQOO India. "We look forward to bringing consumers powerful performance and enabling advanced mobile experiences globally."

Devices based on Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 are expected to be commercially available in Q1 2023 and devices based on Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 are expected to be commercially available in Q3 2022. For more information, please visit: Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 1.

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[ModEl4]

Sounds like Mediatek competitors for something like upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 (SD 6 G1) and 12S (SD 4 G1) class of Smartphones.

 

[zlobby]

Rumor has it that Qualcomm ditched Samsung for TSMC.

 

[ModEl4]

Rumor has it that Qualcomm ditched Samsung for TSMC.

At least for SD 4 G1 (TSMC 6nm vs Samsung 8LPP)

 

[zlobby]

At least for SD 4 G1 (TSMC 6nm vs Samsung 8LPP)

Rumor is also for their top tier: https://m.weibo.cn/status/M4og1w56d?jumpfrom=weibocom

Well, not the most reliable source, hence the rumor tag.

 

[ModEl4]

Rumor is also for their top tier: https://m.weibo.cn/status/M4og1w56d?jumpfrom=weibocom

Well, not the most reliable source, hence the rumor tag.

Possibly, I checked the spec sheets but they didn't mention anything:

 

[RandallFlagg]

They should never have gone away from customizing their ARM cores. Qualcomm used to be a beast with their custom 32 bit ARM based cores, but when they switched to 64 bit they went generic ARM and have never been the same since.

There needs to be more competition to Apple, who now seems to feel comfortable with the new iPhone having last years chip in it. Reminds me a bit of Intel under Krzanich.

 

[zlobby]

They should never have gone away from customizing their ARM cores. Qualcomm used to be a beast with their custom 32 bit ARM based cores, but when they switched to 64 bit they went generic ARM and have never been the same since.

There needs to be more competition to Apple, who now seems to feel comfortable with the new iPhone having last years chip in it. Reminds me a bit of Intel under Krzanich.

Agree, but let's keep in mind that 64-bit core design is significantly harder, and at the end they care only about profit i.e., if it is cheap and works, don't make it more expensive.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Agree, but let's keep in mind that 64-bit core design is significantly harder, and at the end they care only about profit i.e., if it is cheap and works, don't make it more expensive.

And on the other side of the coin, the apple a16 might be hypothetically faster then the a15 but you will never see it because the limiting factor is the way iOS works. In the mobile space all that excess parallel processing doesnt do much when you have 1 app running at a time. Despite being "way slower" the 8 gen 1 or even midrange chips like the 665 still work perfectly fine for everything you use a phone for. Most issues and performance problems are software related these days.

 

[dgianstefani]

And on the other side of the coin, the apple a16 might be hypothetically faster then the a15 but you will never see it because the limiting factor is the way iOS works. In the mobile space all that excess parallel processing doesnt do much when you have 1 app running at a time. Despite being "way slower" the 8 gen 1 or even midrange chips like the 665 still work perfectly fine for everything you use a phone for. Most issues and performance problems are software related these days.

Race to idle. Faster cpu at same wattage uses less power for the same task. So battery improvements.

Faster cpu also allows things like Ray tracing, which apis are being developed for mobile.

 

[RandallFlagg]

And on the other side of the coin, the apple a16 might be hypothetically faster then the a15 but you will never see it because the limiting factor is the way iOS works. In the mobile space all that excess parallel processing doesnt do much when you have 1 app running at a time. Despite being "way slower" the 8 gen 1 or even midrange chips like the 665 still work perfectly fine for everything you use a phone for. Most issues and performance problems are software related these days.

You can feel the difference as a user, IMO, about every 2 gens on Apple. You may feel fine on an iPhone 7 or 8 right now, but once you get on a newer phone like a 12 or 13, you'll notice it in a significant way. Depends on what you do ofc, but for example I can use an app to identify trees and bugs, which was almost impossible on the 8+ due to limited AI processing power, meanwhile even shopping apps load / scroll and respond far faster than my old 8+ and noticeably faster than the 11 (my wife has an 11).

The fact that A14/A15 are more or less the same - main difference is the radio - and they are now going to use the A15 for the iPhone in 2022-2023, seems a sign of complacency and putting profit ahead of pushing the envelope. It's just like Intel did after Skylake, nobody can touch us so we can sit back and take profits theme.

Thing is, I don't really see Qualcomm closing the gap in performance, which seems to sit around 30%+. Maybe Google will with Tensor.

 

[zlobby]

And on the other side of the coin, the apple a16 might be hypothetically faster then the a15 but you will never see it because the limiting factor is the way iOS works. In the mobile space all that excess parallel processing doesnt do much when you have 1 app running at a time. Despite being "way slower" the 8 gen 1 or even midrange chips like the 665 still work perfectly fine for everything you use a phone for. Most issues and performance problems are software related these days.

Agree. Android is very bloated, plus most of the apps are coded very poorly. Let alone sub-optimal scheduling and whatnot.

Race to idle. Faster cpu at same wattage uses less power for the same task. So battery improvements.

Faster cpu also allows things like Ray tracing, which apis are being developed for mobile.

+1 However, there is another phenomenon at play here. The faster a user can get an app to do its thing, the faster they will jump on the next task. Applies for most users and especially the power ones. Maybe what you says hold true with elderly people and others who use their phones rarely.