- Qualcomm has detailed its next flagship Snapdragon chipset
- It features a Hexagon NPU that reduces the reliance on RAM for AI tasks
- It also includes the world's first 5GHz mobile CPU
AI is transforming technology, but it’s also causing some real issues, especially with regard to RAM, which is now in high demand and short supply (cue spiraling RAM prices). But Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship smartphone chipset could help address this issue.
In a series of blog posts, the company has revealed that its new, as-yet-unnamed mobile silicon brings AI processing closer to the chipset, reducing its reliance on RAM in the process.
It achieves this in large part through a new Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit), which uses various techniques to power “larger-model-class AI experiences with low power consumption and memory requirements” so that AI on phones can be both responsive and private — in other words, it won’t need masses of RAM or to communicate with cloud servers so frequently.
As a result, it’s possible that phones will be able to keep up with growing AI demands without enormous RAM requirements, which in turn could help ease the RAM crisis.
Additionally, the Hexagon NPU includes an Element Accelerator that speeds up AI operations, and it has 50% more Large Shared Memory, which “helps keep model state, context, and KV-cache data closer to the accelerators, reducing trips to external memory and helping agents answer, revise, plan, and act with less waiting” for a smoother experience.
Big upgrades to the CPU and GPU as well
But the NPU is not the only significant selling point of this chipset, as Qualcomm also explained that its new silicon sports the world’s first 5GHz mobile CPU — which, unsurprisingly, means it’s also the world’s fastest mobile CPU.
This CPU also includes a new FlexCache feature, which reduces how often the cores need to reach system memory, helping ensure peak performance is maintained even when memory is limited — which, as with the changes to the NPU, could reduce reliance on RAM.
The GPU, meanwhile, is the largest generational leap yet for Qualcomm, promising major gains in graphics performance and power efficiency. And this element of the chipset helps with AI too, as it includes Adreno Matrix Cores, which are AI-dedicated GPU cores, “designed to run advanced AI models directly inside the graphics pipeline.”
It also includes Adreno Neural Fusion — an AI-driven rendering technology that improves visuals while reducing power consumption.
So, it sounds like this could be a comprehensive upgrade, and while Qualcomm hasn’t confirmed which phones will use this as-yet-unnamed chipset, it’s likely at least some models in the Samsung Galaxy S27 series will ship with it early next year, while other high-end Android handsets from Oppo, Xiaomi, and Honor could get it even sooner.
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