Qualcomm isn’t just planning one new flagship chip for next year — it’s reportedly cooking up an entire lineup. A fresh leak reveals the company is working on two separate 2nm flagship platforms, plus several refreshed 3nm chips to fill out the rest of its premium tier.
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Two Flagship 2nm Chips, Not One
According to Smartprix’s report, citing Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Qualcomm is developing both a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro variant — splitting its flagship lineup in a way it hasn’t quite done before.
| Chip | Model Number | CPU Architecture | GPU | Memory Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro | SM8975 | Next-gen 2+3+3 Oryon, 16MB L2 cache | Adreno 850, 18MB GMEM | LPDDR6 + LPDDR5X |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 | SM8950 | Same CPU/cache as Pro variant | Adreno 845, 12MB GMEM | LPDDR5X only |
The Pro variant stands out for one big reason: it’s tipped to be Qualcomm’s first smartphone chipset to support LPDDR6 memory — a meaningful jump that could position flagships using it well ahead of the curve, especially with industry reports suggesting LPDDR6-equipped phones may not become mainstream until late 2027.
Refreshed 3nm Chips Are Coming Too
Beyond the two 2nm flagships, the leak also points to mid-cycle refreshes built on TSMC’s existing 3nm process:
| Chip | Status |
|---|---|
| SM8850 (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) | Already shipping |
| SM8850Q | Refreshed/higher-clocked variant in development |
| SM8845 Pro | New chip, expected to sit between current and next-gen flagships |
This mirrors a pattern we’ve seen from Qualcomm before — offering a “lite” or refreshed flagship chip partway through a generation to keep mid-cycle phone launches competitive without waiting for a full annual refresh.
Why Two Flagship Tiers Makes Sense
Splitting flagship silicon into a Pro and standard variant lets Qualcomm serve two different price points without diluting either chip’s performance story. The standard Gen 6 still shares the same CPU cluster and cache as the Pro model — it’s really the GPU and memory ceiling that separate the two. That’s a smart way to stretch flagship-tier branding further down the price ladder, similar to dynamics we’ve covered in our realme P4 series price hike piece, where chip tiering directly shapes pricing strategy.
When to Expect an Official Reveal
Qualcomm typically unveils its flagship Snapdragon platforms at its annual Snapdragon Summit, usually held in the second half of the year. Given the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still relatively fresh — and hasn’t even launched in India yet — these 2nm chips are likely a 2027 story rather than an immediate one.
For more chipset leaks and benchmark coverage, keep checking our smartphones section on TechnoSports.
The Bottom Line
Qualcomm appears to be doubling down on flagship segmentation, with two distinct 2nm chips plus a refreshed 3nm lineup in the pipeline. It’s early days for all of this, but the direction is clear: more chip choices, more price tiers, and an even longer runway before LPDDR6 phones actually land in your hands.
