Qualcomm's Next-gen Snapdragon 865 Mobile Chip Focuses on 5G

Qualcomm uncorked this year's version of its Snapdragon Technology Summit by announcing the names of its two new upcoming Snapdragon chips, the Snapdragon 865 and the Snapdragon 765/765G. Not surprisingly, the emphasis this year is on 5G, and the "AI" which those chips will apply for software enhancements. From a report: Because this is the Snapdragon Technology Summit, we expect to hear more details of each of these chips in the coming days. For now, however, Qualcomm is just teasing the names and their basic capabilities. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips are some of the most prevalent processors in smartphones and a mainstay in high-end flagships, powering the Samsung Galaxy S10 and OnePlus 7 Pro among others. Both of these phones incorporate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 that was introduced at last year's Snapdragon Summit, and it's fair to say we'd expect the eventual successor of those phones to use the new chips, as well.

Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager of mobile at Qualcomm Technologies, introduced both the Snapdragon 865 and the Snapdragon 765/765G but said nothing about a enhanced "Plus" version, as Qualcomm introduced with the Snapdragon 855 Plus midway through this year. Specifically, Katzouian said, the Snapdragon 865 will be built around the Snapdragon X55, Qualcomm's second-gen 5G modem that the company launched in February of this year. The X55 was part of the "Project Limitless" PC platform Qualcomm showed off with Lenovo at Computex, but is expected to be much more of a factor within smartphones.

Markitecture++

[ccham]

The only significance to 5G is more spatial multiplexing to fully stuff MIMO constellations. Whether that ends up with better 'anything' is a matter of implementation by the cell carrier with their given spectrum.

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[olsmeister]

The other significance will be the 5G surcharge that the carrier gets to add to your bill.

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[sexconker]

The way they've been pushing 5G so hard as some revolutionary cure for sliced bread should tell you everything.

5G is about money and mind control, pure and simple.

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[timeOday]

Oh come on. Cellular technology continues to advance and 5G is the next step. It has useful enhancements and will allow people in crowded areas to get more bandwidth and lower latency. Sure it's overhyped and no I won't be upgrading just for 5G. But it would be suicidal for Qualcomm to not support it in their new chips.

Data cap?

[RobXiii]

Will the data caps go up in total and down in cost? In my current plan, I will cap out with like 5 seconds of 5G downloads. What's the point?

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[AHuxley]

5G has to pay for the new networks and connections around a US city.
That money used to pay experts and workers around the USA has to be found again by extra new billing.
Fast speed will make people upgrade. Huge plan costs pay back the work done and add back to profits.
Pay for speed and data. TV, movies, web sites... 4K, HDR ready... need more data...
Ads that sell the cell tower "download" lifestyle. vs the working unlimited network back at home...