14 DAY TRIAL // Qualcomm continues the fight against Apple, and while the company struggles to get the iPhone banned in the United States, court documents mentioning the patented chipsets reveal one new name that is expected to power the next-generation flagships.
The Snapdragon 845 shows up as SDM845 in Qualcomm documents, confirming that the chipmaker is working on it and the company is more likely very close to finalizing the design ahead of the first models to feature it in 2018.
Little is known about the new Snapdragon 845, though it’s believed that the next-generation Samsung S series will embrace it, with the Galaxy S9 very likely to use it when it launches early next year.
While no confirmation has been provided in this regard, Samsung has typically been one of the first adopters of new Qualcomm flagship processors, and now it makes sense for the company to go for the Snapdragon 845 as well for the upcoming S9 lineup.
The Qualcomm vs. Apple fight
Leaving the chip aside, the documents also show that Qualcomm does not intend to give up on its fight against Apple, with the company still seeking a ban on iPhones in the United States.
Apple sued Qualcomm in January this year claiming that the company forces it to pay royalties for patents that it didn’t own, while Qualcomm counter-sued and even tried to go after Cupertino’s iPhone makers in an attempt to make them pay licensing fees for the parts they manufacture for Apple’s devices.
More recently, however, Apple has received the support of several technology giants, including a well-known group whose members, including here Google and Microsoft, said they did not agree with a ban on iPhones in the United States.
Intel has also sided with Apple in the fight against Qualcomm, but by the looks of things, the dispute is not going to end very soon, despite voices familiar with the matter suggesting that a settlement was being discussed behind the closed doors.