The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro may well be the most high-profile smartphones to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 so far. However, TENAA has confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra will all feature the SM8550-AC, an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offered in other flagship smartphones.
For context, several leakers asserted as much in November, which we discussed at the time. According to TENAA, the Galaxy S23 series relies on ‘SM8550-AC’, a version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with higher clock speeds than the SoC that debuted in November. At launch, Qualcomm outlined that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 contained the following CPU cores and clock speeds:
- 1x ARM Cortex-X3 – 3.2 GHz
- 2x ARM Cortex-A715 – 2.8 GHz
- 2x ARM Cortex-A710 – 2.8 GHz
- 3x ARM Cortex-A510 – 2.0 GHz
Conversely, TENAA reveals that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering the Galaxy S23 series tops out at 3.36 GHz, although its other clusters remain at 2.8 GHz and 2.0 GHz, respectively. Hence, it seems that Qualcomm is offering a version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with a 400 MHz overclocked prime core. Typically, Qualcomm reserves ‘AC’ suffixes for its ‘Plus’ branded chipsets, which may not be the case for this generation.
Either way, the decision to offer Samsung a higher-binned part than its competitors may explain why Qualcomm secured 100% of Galaxy S23 series market share. It remains to be seen what plans Qualcomm has for the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 too, which will inevitably arrive near the middle of 2023.
Alex Alderson – Senior Tech Writer – 7056 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018
Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.
Alex Alderson, 2022-12-13 (Update: 2022-12-13)
