Qualcomm today announced four new Snapdragon chips to power next year's smartphones, across a variety of price points. While some of the chips are genuinely new, others are minor variants of existing chips that seem to address the global supply-chain issues affecting the chip industry. The most significant new chip is the Snapdragon 695, which is a significant upgrade over the 690 with the addition of mmWave 5G. It's also more powerful, with 30% faster graphics performance, 15% faster CPU, and 10% faster clock speed. It also upgrades to a newer 6nm manufacturing process for better power efficiency. Qualcomm also introduced "plus" versions of two existing chips. The new Snapdragon 778G Plus and Snapdragon 480 Plus are both 5G chips with specs almost identical to the existing (non-"plus") chips. The 778G Plus has the "boosted performance" of a 2.5 GHz clock speed instead of 2.4 GHz, a minor difference. Qualcomm says these new chips will "provide OEMs with additional options to help meet the existing demand". Presumably these "plus" chips are merely manufactured at different chip foundries from the originals, and are a response to the supply chain issues facing the entire chip industry globally. Qualcomm also announced a new 4G-only chip in the 6 series, the Snapdragon 680 4G. It's made with a modern, efficient 6nm process. As US carriers continue to push 5G aggressively, it's not clear if the 680 will reach the US.


More...