14 DAY TRIAL // The Meltdown & Spectre fiasco is affecting not only processors manufactured by Intel, AMD, and ARM, but also products using chip technology developed by the three companies, including Apple’s iPhone and, more recently, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series.
Qualcomm has recently confirmed that it’s already working on patches for the two security vulnerabilities, although the company hasn’t provided any specifics as to which of its chips could be affected.
Snapdragon mobile processors are based on ARM technology and are thus impacted by Meltdown and Spectre flaws, but the company says that with the mitigations it’s already developing, users shouldn’t be exposed to attacks.
Snapdragon 845 delay?
“We are actively incorporating and deploying mitigations against the vulnerabilities for our impacted products, and we continue to work to strengthen them as possible. We are in the process of deploying these mitigations to our customers and encourage people to update their devices when patches become available,’ a Qualcomm spokesperson was quoted as saying by CNBC.
Qualcomm hasn’t confirmed whether its upcoming Snapdragon 845, expected to power Samsung’s Galaxy S9 lineup as well as other high-end mobile phones, is vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre, though there’s a good chance it is given that it uses Cortex-A75 tech. ARM said this particular chip is affected by the said flaws, hence the increased likelihood of the Snapdragon 845 to need patches as well.
This causes concerns regarding a potential delay of the Snapdragon 845, which was expected to debut in early 2018, possibly as soon as late February or early March, on Samsung’s new flagship smartphones. No confirmation of a potential delay was offered, but given that the chip isn’t yet publicly available, Qualcomm could rapidly address the problem internally behind the closed doors.
The Snapdragon 845 processor will also power Windows 10 on ARM devices (also referred to as Always Connected PCs) due later this year, though with several tweaks to optimize it for PCs and Windows 10.