Newly leaked documents reveal what Qualcomm has planned for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, from a new 2nm process to upgraded graphics and AI gaming features.
According to leaked documents, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, internally known as SM8975, will be Qualcomm’s first flagship chip built on TSMC’s enhanced 2nm N2P process.
What’s interesting is that even though it’s moving to a smaller manufacturing process, the chip itself is actually getting bigger. The leak claims it measures around 134mm², compared to 126.2mm² on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
A larger chip usually means Qualcomm has packed in more hardware, which could explain the new features rumored for this generation.
The CPU will continue using Qualcomm’s custom Oryon cores, but with a 2+3+3 configuration consisting of:
- 2 Prime cores
- 3 Performance cores
- 3 Efficiency cores
Clock speeds haven’t been revealed yet, but the new setup is expected to deliver better performance while keeping power consumption under control.
Graphics are also getting a noticeable upgrade.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro is rumored to feature the new Adreno 850 GPU with 18MB of GMEM, up from the previous generation. That should give the GPU more room to handle larger textures, higher resolutions, and heavier graphics workloads.
One of the biggest upgrades is a new feature called AI Frame Fusion.
The Pro chip reportedly includes two dedicated Matrix ALU blocks that can generate AI frames while also performing super-resolution upscaling. In simple terms, supported games could look smoother and sharper without putting as much load on the GPU, which could also help improve battery life during gaming.
According to the leak, these AI features will only be available on the Pro version.
The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 (SM8950) is expected to be a toned-down version.
Instead of the Adreno 850, it’s rumored to use an Adreno 845 GPU with 12MB of GMEM. It will also reportedly miss out on the dedicated Matrix ALU hardware and AI Frame Fusion technology.
Memory support will differ as well.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro is expected to support both LPDDR5X and the newer LPDDR6 RAM, while the standard version will reportedly be limited to LPDDR5X.
Qualcomm is also increasing the chip’s cache, with the Pro version rumored to feature:
- 16MB shared L2 cache
- 8MB system-level cache
These upgrades should help improve performance by allowing the CPU and GPU to access frequently used data more quickly.
All of these additions won’t come cheap, though.
The leak says the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro will cost more to manufacture, which means it could be reserved for only a handful of ultra-premium flagship phones. The regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is expected to power more mainstream flagship devices.
Qualcomm is expected to officially unveil both chips during the Snapdragon Summit, which will take place in Maui, Hawaii, from September 22 to 24, 2026.
As always, these details come from leaked documents and should be taken with a grain of salt until Qualcomm makes everything official.