Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 leak suggests Ultra-tier flagships may offer a noticeable performance edge

Qualcomm’s next flagship chip lineup could be more fragmented than previously expected. A new leak has detailed key specifications of the rumored Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 lineup, reiterating that the company may launch both a standard and a Pro variant this year. The two chips are expected to give smartphone makers more flexibility across price tiers, while also widening the performance gap between regular flagship phones and more premium “Ultra” models.

How does the Snapdragon 8 Gen 6 Pro differ from the standard variant?

Multiple reports have already pointed to Qualcomm’s dual-chip strategy, and tipster Digital Chat Station has now shared additional details about the two variants. Both Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series chips are expected to be built on TSMC’s 2nm process and use a 2+3+3 CPU configuration, indicating a shared architectural foundation. However, the “Pro” variant may offer significantly better performance if the latest leak is accurate.

According to Digital Chat Station, Qualcomm may equip the Pro model, codenamed SM8975, with an Adreno 850 GPU paired with 18MB GMEM, while the standard model, codenamed SM8950, is expected to feature an Adreno 845 GPU with 12MB GMEM. This could allow the higher-end chip to deliver better performance and efficiency in graphics-heavy tasks like gaming.

The two chips are expected to differ in terms of memory support. The Pro variant could support both LPDDR6 and LPDDR5X RAM, whereas the standard model may be limited to LPDDR5X.

If accurate, these differences suggest Qualcomm is taking a more segmented approach to its flagship chips this year. Given that Digital Chat Station has previously claimed that the Pro variant could be significantly more expensive, the split may also push up prices for Ultra-tier smartphones. It could also widen the performance gap across flagship Android phones, even within the same chip family, as brands typically reserve the most powerful hardware for their top-tier models.