Report: First phase of Apple's plan to replace Qualcomm modems in iPhones is coming

We might finally get to see Apple's rumoured cellular modem in action. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the company is ready to replace Qualcomm's chips in the upcoming iPhone SE. Codenamed Sinope, the in-house part is expected to come in a slimmer iPhone and low-end iPads later in 2025, too. There are plans to bring the modems to the Mac and Vision Pro headset down the line. The company's multi-year goal is to overtake Qualcomm technologically in 2027.

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Qualcomm debuts flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite processor

Image: Qualcomm

You can expect the upcoming generation of Android flagships to feature Qualcomm's newest chipset. The company announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite, unifying its naming scheme with the ARM-based X Elite laptop chips. Like those processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite has an Oryon CPU with a custom eight-core structure consisting of 2x prime cores clocked at 4.32GHz and 6x performance units running up to 3.53GHz. This CPU is paired with a 24MLB cache and supports 5,300MHz LPDDR5X RAM.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is fabricated on TSMC's 3nm process, promising a 45% improvement in CPU performance and a 44% power efficiency boost over its predecessor. Meanwhile, on the graphics side, the Snapdragon 8 Elite gets a redesigned Adreno GPU that boosts performance by 40% and improves its power savings as well as its ray-tracing capabilities. This system-on-chip will be the first mobile SoC to support Unreal Engine 5.3 and the Nanite virtualized geometry system.

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Qualcomm teases new flagship Snapdragon SoC launch

Image: Qualcomm

Chip giant Qualcomm has hinted at the upcoming release of its next top-tier Snapdragon processors through a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo. It's expected to launch next week on March 18.

Speculation suggests the announcement could be for the recently leaked Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. If confirmed, this chip would join the previously released Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 at the forefront of Qualcomm's mobile processors.

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Qualcomm confirms Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 launch date, teases features

Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm's next flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, is on the horizon. It's slated for an October 2024 release at the Snapdragon Summit, following the established pattern, as the Gen 2 and Gen 3 launched in October of the previous years.

Rumours suggest the Gen 4 will boast TSMC's 3nm process and upgraded performance cores. Don McGuire, Qualcomm's chief marketing officer, confirmed it will get Qualcomm's custom Oryon CPU (as seen in the Snapdragon X Elite). And he hints at a significant Neural Processing Unit (NPU) upgrade.

Leaks point to a potential 4GHz clock speed, exceeding the Gen 3's 3.30GHz. While specific details remain under wraps, history suggests performance and efficiency improvements are likely. On-device generative AI capabilities, a highlight of the Gen 3, are also expected to see enhancements.

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