A new leak suggests Qualcomm is preparing a more layered strategy for its next flagship mobile platform, with two separate high-end chips reportedly in development under the model numbers SM8950 and SM8975. According to tipster Digital Chat Station, both parts are tied to TSMC 2nm manufacturing, but they may not land with the same memory support, GPU setup, or overall cache configuration.
The leak says both chips use a 2+3+3 CPU layout, but the higher-end SM8975 is paired with an A850 GPU, 18MB of GMEM, support for 4×24 LPDDR6 or 4×16 LPDDR5X memory, and 8MB of LLC cache. The lower-positioned SM8950, by comparison, is said to ship with an A845 GPU, 12MB of GMEM, 4×16 LPDDR5X memory support, and 6MB of LLC cache.
If that split holds up, Qualcomm may be carving out a clearer premium tier inside its own flagship lineup instead of treating every top-end Snapdragon release as a single all-in design. That would also line up with the tipster’s claim that MediaTek’s next flagship is expected to sit between the two in positioning, which likely refers to the upcoming Dimensity 9600.
This isn’t the first time this two-chip story has surfaced. IT Home notes that the same source said back in February that Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship family would include both SM8950 and SM8975, with both using TSMC N2P-class process technology. In that earlier version of the leak, only the SM8975 was expected to offer full-fat GPU performance, LPDDR6 support, and the maximum cache configuration.
The tipster also claimed the SM8975 carries a very high cost, which could explain why some next-wave phones might instead adopt the more moderate SM8950. There was even mention of a lower-probability fallback where some devices could be adjusted to an N-1 part identified as SM8850, described as the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite platform.
Qualcomm’s final retail branding still isn’t confirmed, but based on the company’s recent naming habits, the report suggests SM8975 could eventually launch as something like Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, while SM8950 may become the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. For now, though, that naming remains speculation rather than official guidance.
There’s also another wrinkle here: the same tipster says a separate Snapdragon 8 Gen 6 still exists in Qualcomm’s roadmap, but its spec outlook doesn’t sound especially strong at this stage. If true, Qualcomm may be heading toward a more crowded flagship stack than usual, with clearer segmentation between cost, performance, and memory capability across the top of its mobile portfolio.
