Upcoming Android phones, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip under the hood, might crush iPhone 16 Pro in AI thanks to a secret weapon - a brand new kind of RAM.
A report by Korean site Ajunews suggests the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could be the world's first smartphone chip to be paired with the super-speedy LPDDR6 RAM. This upcoming memory standard is expected to be much faster than its predecessors (LPDDR5, LPDDR5X and even LPDDR5T).
New leak points to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 having a single core score of 3500 points in Geekbench 6 pic.twitter.com/p2pdThe4JD
— Anthony (@TheGalox_) March 11, 2024
This extra speed could play a key role in unlocking even more powerful AI features on your phone. The semiconductor industry is reportedly gearing up to announce the LPDDR6 standard this fall. The word on the street is that Samsung and SK Hynix could be the first manufacturers to launch chips using the new standard.
Samsung is currently working on starting production of LPDDR6 ram as quickly as possible in hopes of getting it into phones as early as next year
— Anthony (@TheGalox_) March 15, 2024
If achieved, we could see the Galaxy S25 debut with LPDDR6 memory pic.twitter.com/JbYtiW8cVc
However, Ajunews' report further suggests that LPDDR6 might not see light of the day until 2025. There's a possibility that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 might be the first to get it. In other words, Apple's next iPhone chip might miss out and stick to the current LPDDR5, which isn't exactly slow but might not be the best option available on the market by the end of the year.
LPDDR6: The next RAM revolution for smartphones
Despite packing less RAM than most Android phones, Apple's iPhones tend to run just as smoothly. It all comes down to how their chips are designed and function. Apple's A-series chips are built differently and function in a way that lets them use RAM more efficiently.
However, the super-speedy LPDDR6 RAM could be a game-changer, giving Android phones a bigger advantage for a wide range of tasks like running multiple apps at once, tackling heavy-duty games and using all fancy AI features.
Currently, many AI-powered features, like Samsung's Galaxy AI, rely on the cloud. So, you can't access those cool AI tricks if there's no connection. In contrast, this super-fast RAM could supercharge phone processors to handle more AI tasks on their own, giving users two things they love: more flexibility and better privacy.
The next wave of Android phones including the Galaxy S25 series and OnePlus 13 are likely to get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip and next-gen LPDDR6 RAM. The chip is expected to arrive this fall and the first phones appearing by the end of the year.
According to rumors from China about Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the required voltage to run it at 4.3 GHz is about 1.3 volts, if manufactured on TSMC N3E.
— Quadrans Muralis (@QaM_Section31) March 10, 2024
And you know, 1.3 volts is too high for mobile processors.
Secondary : Meeco
Primary : Weibohttps://t.co/R7KWLFBZMh
If the alleged benchmarks are anything to go by, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could perform better than the A18 Pro with its CPU too. Until the Gen 4-powered Android phones and the iPhone 16 Pro hit the store shelves, you can explore the Galaxy S24's AI features on Samsung's Try Galaxy app.
