For years, Samsung used two different processors for all its flagship devices, including Qualcomm’s flagship CPU and a chip of its own. Reports already say that some of next year’s Galaxy S9 models will be powered by the next-gen Snapdragon 845 processor. But a fresh rumor indicates that the Galaxy S10 chip is already in the making, the Snapdragon 855.
On the other hand, considering the bad news Qualcomm got this week, it may be no coincidence that the first Snapdragon 855 rumors have started to appear this early.
Roland Quandt said on Twitter that the SDM845 (Snapdragon 845) will be followed by the SDM855 (Snapdragon 855), which seems absolutely logical. He found the mentions of the SDM845 and SDM855 on Linkedin.
What comes after SDM845? Right, SDM855. Mention of Snapdragon 855 on LinkedIn. pic.twitter.com/AzIec72v1T
— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) October 9, 2017
But Quandt isn’t the only one to have spotted mentions of the Snapdragon 855 chip. GizmoChina reports that a Chinese leaker who goes by the name of Ice Universe shared more details about the chip a few weeks ago.
The leaker, who proved in the past that he has direct access to inside information about unreleased devices, said that the Snapdragon 855 chip will be built on the 7nm process and that it’ll be more energy efficient than its predecessors. If Qualcomm ships the Snapdragon 855 in 2019, it’s likely the A13 chip that will power 2019 iPhones will also be a 7nm chip. Next year’s Snapdragon 845 chip will probably be built on 10nm process technology, and will be exclusive to the Galaxy S9 family in the first part of 2018, a report said earlier this week.
Ice Universe also said that the new chip will power devices with ultrasonic fingerprint scanners embedded into the display. That’s a fingerprint-reading technology smartphone makers are yet to perfect. The iPhone X was rumored to have an ultrasonic Touch ID sensor under the display at one point. But Apple eventually ditched Touch ID and replaced it with Face ID.
Some top 2018 Android phones are expected to feature fingerprint sensors built into the display, with rumors pointing to the Galaxy Note 9 as being one such device.
