14 DAY TRIAL // MediaTek was the first chip maker to ever introduce an octa-core processor on the market. While the competition scoffed at this initiative, Qualcomm soon followed suit and unveiled its own octa-core application processors.
More recently though, MediaTek outed the MT6797 SoC, which is part of the Helio X20 series and comes equipped with a deca-core CPU. The silicone piece is constructed out of four ARM 1.4GHz Cortex-A53 cores, four 2GHz ARM Cortex-A57 cores, and two 2.5GHz ARM Cortex-A72 cores.
It also has support for 993MHz LPDDR3 RAM and LTE Cat-6, which is a lesser standard compared to Qualcomm’s and Snapdragon’s support for 1600 MHz LPDDR4 RAM, and the former’s support for LTE Cat-9.
Now, it appears that Qualcomm is once again following the footsteps of MediaTek, planning to release its own deca-core system-on-chip.
Snapdragon appears to be working on a deca-core SoC
STJSGadgets reports that Qualcomm is working towards a new chip called the Snapdragon 818, which will apparently be a deca-core CPU.
The chip will rely on four low-power cores of the 1.2GHz Cortex-A53 variety, two middle-range 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores, plus four high-power cores of the 2.0GHz Cortex A72 kind.
The Snapdragon 818 also takes advantage of Adreno 532 GPU and supports LPDDR4 RAM. When released, it will be able to handle LTE Cat-10 speeds. Last but not least, we should mention that the chip is built using 20nm process technology.
As you can see, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 818 SoC seems to be getting less clock speed than we are getting with MedaTek’s new chip, but details might change as the silicone approaches its official launch.
We're waiting for the official confirmation
While Qualcomm is getting ready to launch the Snapdragon 820 with its own Kyro cores, the company is not yet ready to fully renounce the services of ARM.
However, we should be taking this information with a big grain of salt. We know for a fact that Qualcomm is prepping to launch the Snapdragon 820 because the company has itself confirmed the existence of this piece of silicone, but nothing was said about the Snapdragon 818. So until the company makes an official statement, we can’t jump to conclusions that this is indeed a viable piece of info.