Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 rumoured to get a clock speed boost at launch

A previous Geekbench listing confirmed Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's max clock speed of 4.09 GHz. Unlike previous generation SoCs which had one 'prime' CPU core boosted, the next-gen model has two cores operating at the same speed, similar to what Apple has going with its A series chips. However, the retail Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 version could be clocked much higher.

In a new Weibo post, Digital Chat Station says Qualcomm could push it as high as 4.37 GHz. Its main competitor on the Android platform, MediaTek's Dimensity 9400, will run a lot slower with a peak clock speed of 3.66 GHz. Apple's A18 Pro, on the other hand, is rumoured to max out at 4.45 GHz and thus leads the pack in terms of clock speed. That leaves us with the Exynos 2500 which might not see the light of day until much later in 2025.

Of course, you can't compare CPUs based on clock speeds alone. For example, the Dimensity 9400 is touted to be a powerhouse thanks to its Cortex-X925 core's massive IPC increase. If a recent leak is accurate, it could even take on Apple Silicon- a major feat for any smartphone SoC maker. On the GPU side, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could get an edge thanks to a DLSS Frame Gen-like feature being baked into it.