Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro tipped to hit at least 5GHz clock speed

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is Qualcomm's latest flagship processor powering phones such as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, OnePlus 15, and Realme GT 8 Pro. Now, a new leak from Fixed Focus Digital on Weibo suggests that Qualcomm's next-generation processor will deliver a major boost in clock speed.

While the leak suggests speeds could reach up to 6GHz, the tipster indicates 5.5GHz is a more likely target, with 5GHz as a minimum. This will be a major upgrade over the current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is clocked at 4.61GHz on its performance cores, though the 'for Galaxy' version in the upcoming Galaxy S26 series is expected to top out at 4.74GHz.

One of the challenges with higher clock speeds will be thermal management. To address this, the leak suggests Qualcomm could use Heat Path Block (HPB) technology. This technology has been used by Samsung for the Exynos 2600. It works by optimizing heat-transfer paths to move internal heat outward more quickly. According to Samsung, HPB technology on the Exynos 2600 helped reduce thermal resistance by up to 16%.

Previous leaks have pointed to two versions for the next-generation Qualcomm processor: a standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. The leak does not specify which chipset will achieve the 5.5GHz frequency, though it's likely limited to the Pro variant.

Leaks have indicated that both chipsets will be based on the TSMC N2P fabrication process. However, the Pro version is said to feature a more capable GPU and support for LPDDR6 memory.

Do note that the above information is based on leaks and rumors with no official word from Qualcomm, hence it should be approached with caution. Since the 8 Elite Gen 5 was released in September, a similar launch timeline for the next series could be expected.