Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 could pack enhanced Pegasus cores but on old CPU cluster

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 launch hasn’t even started yet, and we’re already hearing rumors about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Earlier, we mentioned that Qualcomm asked TSMC and Samsung for samples of their 2nm chips, likely to test them out and see if they’re a good fit for future top-of-the-line chipset orders.

Now, we’ve found out that while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 might have the same CPU cluster, the latter is rumored to have new ‘Pegasus’ CPU cores.

The first details about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s CPU cluster were shared by @For_Ataraxia, who says that while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will have custom Phoenix cores, its successor will come with Pegasus cores, which, based on the name change, should be an improvement. However, both SoCs are expected to keep the same ‘2 + 6’ CPU cluster, but Qualcomm will take a similar approach to MediaTek when it launched the Dimensity 9300.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s CPU setup is said to consist of performance cores only, with an earlier rumor suggesting that the SoC was tested with a 4.00GHz frequency. The clock speeds of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 haven’t been shared in any rumor, but it’s likely that Qualcomm will also only use performance cores for this chipset. There’s another claim that both custom silicon will have the same Slice GPU architecture.

However, it’s not confirmed whether the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s Adreno 830 will be reused for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 or if it will have a completely new graphics processor. One surprising part of this rumor is that the tipster says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will use Samsung’s 2nm process, also known as SF2, but somehow, TSMC’s ‘N3E’ process will stay the same.

It’s too early to get into these claims, so we’ll have to wait for more updates to give a fair overview of a Qualcomm SoC that’s set to be revealed in 2025. For now, we’ll keep our attention on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, so take a look at our detailed rumor roundup of Qualcomm’s first 3nm SoC. And as always, we’ll keep you posted on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 as more information comes in.