Qualcomm’s hardware partners likely did not pursue the company’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 since it lacked the necessary performance punch. Fortunately, with the upcoming Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4, we have learned that the upcoming SoC could be outfitted with 10-inch tablets, giving Qualcomm’s clientele some incentive to push product launches that will take on Apple’s iPad range.
Qualcomm is said to be testing software development on devices since November 2022, but the launch of Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 is expected in 2024
Unlike other companies that test prototypes or reference designs for further product development, WinFuture reports that Qualcomm has been testing software development since November 2022. While no concrete launch details have been provided, the report states that in addition to using the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 in larger 13-inch notebooks, the chipset could be found in smaller 10-inch models too.
This means that hardware manufacturers could come with devices that could run either Android or Windows, and the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 could deliver sufficient performance to be able to handle both platforms. While the SoC should have no problem running Android, integrating with Windows has been the Achilles’ heel of Microsoft and Qualcomm. From the lack of app support to the abysmal performance, all of these negative aspects have prevented consumers from ever looking at such products with any seriousness.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx series has struggled to keep up with Apple’s M-series of SoCs, but this might not be the case any longer
This is where Apple has thrived, as it is has re-purposed its older chipsets and incorporated them into affordable iPad models, thus garnering a massive market share. An early sample of the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 is said to be produced on TSMC’s 4nm node while operating at 3.00GHz, so we think it should not have any thermal issues when running in a 10-inch tablet. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 is said to be a 12-core CPU with eight performance and four power-efficiency cores.
Other attractive features of the SoC, thanks to an earlier specifications leak, include integrated 5G, Wi-Fi 7, support for external GPUs, and more, which should give Qualcomm’s hardware partners some excitement. It is also possible that the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 operates at slower frequencies when running in smaller tablets, which is the case with Apple’s M2 iPad Pro, as the CPU in the tablet runs slower compared to the same silicon running in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
We finally hope to see some proper competition in this space, and all eyes will be converged on Qualcomm as we get to witness the fruits of the Nuvia acquisition. Hopefully, we will not be disappointed with the commercial tablets and laptops that follow.
The post Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 Could Power 10-Inch Tablets, Giving Apple’s Low-Cost Devices A Run for Their Money by Omar Sohail appeared first on Wccftech.
