Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite processor may adopt a new naming convention. Instead of the anticipated Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, it is rumored the chip will be named Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This potential shift follows the company’s launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite late last year, a move that initially altered their established naming system after the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Digital Chat Station, a known source for leaks, reported on Weibo that the SM8550 chipset is predicted to be designated as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The SM8550 had previously been tentatively identified as the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 or Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2.
This naming change appears unusual, considering the Snapdragon 8 Elite was introduced only the previous year. This would make the forthcoming processor effectively the second generation in the Elite series, instead of the fifth. The rationale for this change, possibly, is to align the Elite series with the standard Snapdragon series.
Recent information has also surfaced regarding the SM8445 chipset, which is speculated to be named the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 designation could be an effort to group the two processors within a unified family, should Qualcomm pursue this strategy. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is expected to be a flagship processor, incorporating custom Oryon cores and utilizing a TSMC 3nm process. Sources indicate that there will likely not be an SM8835 chipset, which analysts believed would have been marketed as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 5.
