What you need to know
- Newly surfaced rumors suggest Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could be quite taxing on upcoming flagship batteries.
- Supposedly, smartphone makers may need to increase battery capacities to nearly 6,000mAh, but there some are allegedly being tested with 5,500mAh.
- Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will feature its custom-made Oyron CPU cores and is rumored to reach 4.0GHz in speed.
A newly surfaced rumor suggests smartphone makers might have to include a larger battery in their flagship device if it's to contain the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
The rumor stems from Digital Chat Station (DCS) on Weibo, who states the next generation of phones could feature "high-density" batteries (via WCCFTech). They add that, so far, three flagship devices preparing to run Qualcomm's next chip have started development with 5,500mAh batteries.
Rumors add that the core materials for such batteries are still being developed to support the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
A follow-up post by the leaker on Weibo states that batteries could reach upwards of 6,000mAh in order to satiate the chip's power hunger.
Speculation surrounding the SD 8 Gen 4's increased power hunger could be due to its alleged 2+6 core setup, the WCCFTech noted. This rumored setup supposedly removes the possibility for Qualcomm to include any efficiency cores to cut down on how much power it draws.
It's worth noting that similar speculation was made about MediaTek's Dimensity 9300 before the chip launched. Word spread that the chip's weight on power started causing overheating issues with devices that featured it. MediaTek promptly denied such rumors, stating it was "completely false and has no source or basis in fact."
It'll be wise to remain cautious until Qualcomm's chip is out to see how it behaves.
Elsewhere, Qualcomm's chief marketing officer, Don McGuire, confirmed some specs about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 during MWC 2024. McGuire stated that users can expect the chip to launch during the Summit in October and that it will feature Oryon CPU cores. Qualcomm stated the cores can output 2x greater CPU performance and 4.5x faster AI processing.
The cores will likely be accompanied by Qualcomm's seventh-generation modem with 5G and non-terrestrial network support for satellite communication capabilities.
The chip is also rumored to be built off TSMC's 3nm process, and the cores could reach 4.0GHz speeds. With Qualcomm seemingly going all in on power, the latest rumors make a little more sense.
There is speculation that the three manufacturers testing devices with increased batteries could involve OPPO and Xiaomi. However, OnePlus had its name tossed into the mix as the company (usually) quickly incorporates the latest Qualcomm chips into its flagship phones.
