Built on Samsung’s foundry, not TSMC’s
Source: Qualcomm
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series is two weeks away from an official unveil, but with leaks ranging from high-res renders to in-depth spec leaks, the sense of mystery is all but gone. While it’s been long assumed the S23 would use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 — perhaps throughout most, if not all, of the world — a new rumor suggests a crucial detail. On the heels of the Samsung and Qualcomm partnership announced last year, we might be looking at a customized processor built exclusively for these three phones.
The S23 series will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, according to a new report from 9to5Google. It’s the same chipset the company introduced in November, but with a fresh rebrand and a higher clock speed. The main Cortex X3 core will run at 3.36GHz, up from 3.2GHz. It’ll also be built on Samsung’s foundry instead of TSMC’s, keeping everything in-house for Samsung and helping to bolster the relationship between both brands.
That last note could be a sticking point for anyone excited for the upcoming Galaxy S23 series. Although it’s unfair to call the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 an outright disaster, it was riddled with controversy after the chipset failed to perform up to expectations. It ran hot, drained the life out of otherwise capable batteries, and perhaps most damning of all, failed to even meet the performance benchmarks set by its predecessor. With a mid-cycle refresh, Qualcomm moved to TSMC’s foundries, delivering a much more power-efficient chip in the process for phones like Samsung’s own Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Qualcomm stuck with TSMC for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but if this rumor turns out to be true, the Galaxy S23 series will be an exception to the rule. Whether this Galaxy-branded variant performs well enough to score a spot among the best Android phones around remains to be seen, and it’ll stay a mystery until we get multiple devices in our hands. Luckily, the OnePlus 11 is set to launch just a week after Samsung’s event, complete with the standard version of Qualcomm’s SoC. A head-to-head battle between flagship Android phones hasn’t been this exciting in years.
