Qualcomm to release Snapdragon 8 Elite gen 2 chip in September: Details

The Snapdragon Summit 2025 will be held from September 23 to 25 and Qualcomm is expected to unveil its next generation of Snapdragon 8 Elite platform on the first day of the event

The US semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm has confirmed that it will be launching its next generation of Snapdragon 8 Elite chip along with other products by late September this year. Notably, this is approximately a month ahead of the expected timeline as last year’s annual event was held in October. Qualcomm confirmed this launch timeframe during its Computex 2025 presentation.

 

The Snapdragon Summit 2025 will take place from September 23 to September 25. The Snapdragon Summit is the company’s annual event during which it unveils its latest Snapdragon chip.

 

Although the spotlight will likely be on the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite series, Qualcomm has more in store. The company is also expected to unveil a new line-up of processors designed for Windows laptops—potentially powering future devices like Microsoft's Surface range.

The exact timeline for when the first smartphones featuring the new Snapdragon 8 Elite will hit the market remains uncertain. However, based on previous release cycles, it’s likely that brands such as OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Motorola will be among the first to adopt the chip shortly after its debut. In contrast, companies like Samsung may hold off until early 2026 to integrate it into their devices. While Xiaomi and OnePlus launched new devices with fresh silicon in October last year, it’s still unclear whether they might shift to an earlier launch window this time, especially with Xiaomi reportedly developing its own chipset.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite: Details

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite is a powerful chip made for premium flagship smartphones. Built on a 3nm architecture, the Snapdragon 8 Elite features a second-generation Oryon CPU optimised for mobile platforms. The chip uses a 2+6 octa-core processor design, with two Prime cores operating at a clock speed of up to 4.32GHz and six Performance cores with peak clock speed of 3.53GHz.

The chip also includes a Qualcomm Adreno graphics processing unit (GPU) with a sliced architecture similar to the CPU. For AI workloads, the Snapdragon 8 Elite incorporates a Qualcomm AI Engine that combines the CPU, GPU, and a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU).