Qualcomm’s current top-tier mobile processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, debuted in September 2025 and quickly became a go-to choice for premium Android phones and performance-focused gaming devices. Now, fresh chatter from a well-known tipster suggests Qualcomm is preparing a two-chip follow-up for its next flagship generation: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro.
According to the new leak, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro is expected to carry the codename SM8975. It’s reportedly being made on TSMC’s advanced 2nm manufacturing process and could feature a 2+3+3 CPU cluster configuration. On the graphics side, the Pro model may step up to an A850 GPU paired with a larger 18MB GMEM allocation. Memory support could include LPDDR6, though LPDDR5X might still be on the table depending on the final device implementation. The same leak also mentions an 8MB last-level cache, which may help with responsiveness and sustained performance.
The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, said to be codenamed SM8950, is rumored to share the same 2nm process and the same 2+3+3 CPU setup. Where it may diverge is in graphics and memory: it could use an A845 GPU with 12MB of GMEM, rely on LPDDR5X RAM, and come with a slightly smaller 6MB last-level cache. If these details hold up, the biggest real-world separation between the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 vs Gen 6 Pro would likely show up in GPU-heavy tasks like gaming, high-refresh-rate performance, and intensive camera or AI imaging workloads that lean on graphics throughput and memory bandwidth.
The same report also hints that Qualcomm could introduce a “sub-flagship” Snapdragon 8 Gen 6 model alongside the Elite lineup. The tipster described its prospects as less exciting but didn’t share specific specifications.
For now, all of this remains unofficial, but the expectation is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series will arrive later this year. Until Qualcomm confirms details, the leaked codenames, 2nm claims, GPU configurations, and memory support should be treated as early indicators of what the next wave of flagship Android phones could be built on.
