The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is generating significant buzz in the tech world, but it appears to be taking a different production route compared to Apple’s A17 Pro. While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is rumored to be manufactured on TSMC’s N4P process, Apple’s A17 Pro is reportedly using the next-generation 3nm process. This distinction could have an impact on the performance and efficiency of these two flagship processors.
One intriguing rumor suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 might outperform the A17 Pro in terms of power efficiency. It’s claimed to be 30 percent more efficient than Apple’s offering in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, it’s important to note that increased power efficiency sometimes comes at the expense of performance, and it’s a delicate balance to strike.
In terms of GPU performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to shine. Recent reports indicate that it may not exhibit a significant lead over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in overall performance, showing only a 15 percent advantage in AnTuTu scores. However, when it comes to GPU tests, there’s an impressive 40 percent difference between the two. This substantial GPU performance gap suggests that the A17 Pro could face a tough challenge when competing with the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, especially in real-world graphics and stress tests. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to be 30 percent more power-efficient than the A17 Pro.
While these details seem promising, there is some ambiguity regarding how the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 achieves this performance edge. It’s not specified if the lead in GPU performance is in pure rasterization, ray tracing, or both, leaving room for speculation.
Apple has been touting the A17 Pro as having four times faster ray tracing performance than the A16 Bionic, making it a powerhouse in this area. It will be intriguing to see how the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 stacks up in the realm of ray tracing performance.
On the topic of power efficiency, there’s a possibility that Qualcomm has adjusted the CPU performance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to enhance battery life. Raising the clock speeds on the performance cores can result in higher power consumption, potentially diminishing the battery life advantage gained from enhanced efficiency. It’s worth noting that there are reports of the A17 Pro having a notably higher power draw this year, possibly implemented to achieve a more substantial single-core and multi-core performance difference compared to the A16 Bionic.
In summary, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is poised to be a formidable competitor to the A17 Pro, but the exact nature of its GPU performance and power efficiency advantages remains somewhat enigmatic. As the two giants, Qualcomm and Apple, continue to push the boundaries of mobile processor technology, it will be fascinating to see how these innovations translate into real-world performance and user experience.
Update: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 boasts a 30% better power efficiency compared to the A17 Pro.
The performance gap in GB6 multi-core benchmark scores between Snapdragon and Apple Silicon is narrowing, and the Snapdragon 8 series GPU's peak performance surpasses Apple's. In 2022, there…
— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) October 7, 2023
News Source: Revegnus