1/21/2015 08:10:00 PM
dannzfay
While we are still waiting for Qualcomm to start shipping out batches of its high-end Snapdragon 810 chip to device manufacturers like Xiaomi and LG, the chip-makers roadmap for the second half of 2015 has already leaked.
Twitter account @leaksfly has managed to get ahold of information that reveals what we can expect from Qualcomm throughout this year. For starters, the successor of the “current” Snapdragon 810 will be the Snapdragon 820. Its purported specifications reveal two major differences. Traditionally, Snapdragon chips are based on Krait CP cores, but the transition into 64-bit territory happened to come at the same time with the end of life for Krait. So the Snapdragon 810 was released without its own custom core. But the Snapdragon 820 appears to be the first custom model to take advantage of 64-bit CPU cores under the Taipan architecture.
The silicone bit should arrive in an octa-core formation with eight TS2 high-performance cores. The second important change is that with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm will be transitioning to 14nm FinFet manufacturing, which will bring about visible improvements in performance and overall efficiency. Samsung and GlobalFoundries will be in charge of the production. The Snapdragon 820 will also come equipped with new Adreno 530 GPU, faster LPDDR4 RAM and add support to MDM9X55 LTE-A Cat.10 Qualcomm modem. But wait, there are more chips we have to look forward to in 2015.
Snapdragon 815
This platform is an octa-core design which nestles four TS1 cores and four TS2 ones in a big.LITTLE setup. The GPU inside is the Adreno 440 while modem and RAM stay the same as with the Snapdragon 820. However, the Snapdragon 815 will be forged on a 20nm process.
Snapdragon 620, 625 and 629
All these three chips will end up powering mid-range mobile devices. The Snapdragon 625 and 629 look quite similar, coming with an octa-core configuration with Adreno 418 GPU, LPDDR4 RAM and a lower-class MDM9X45 LTE-A Cat.10 modem. They will be manufactured using a 20nm HKMG Samsung/GF process.
Snapdragon 620, 625 and 629
All these three chips will end up powering mid-range mobile devices. The Snapdragon 625 and 629 look quite similar, coming with an octa-core configuration with Adreno 418 GPU, LPDDR4 RAM and a lower-class MDM9X45 LTE-A Cat.10 modem. They will be manufactured using a 20nm HKMG Samsung/GF process.
The Snapdragon 620 is a quad-core chip which uses Qualcomm Taipan cores clocked between 2 and 2.5GHz and LPDDR3 RAM. The platform will support Adreno 418 GPU and MDM9X45 LTE-A Cat.10 modem. Apart from that, the Snapdragon 620 is identical to the other models in the 62x family.
Snapdragon 616
Last but not least, we have the Snapdragon 616 which takes advantage of eight ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked between 1.8 and 2.2GHz with Adreno 408 GPU. The SoC has LTE-A Cat.6 modem and will be manufactured on a 28nm HKMG by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company (SMIC). Qualcomm really seems to have a full agenda in 2015 and hopefully the silicone maker will be able to pull together and resolve the over-heating issues of the Snapdragon 810 once and for all.
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| Qualcomm's 2015 roadmap leaks Image credits to @leaksfly |
