Qualcomm e MediaTek sono sul piede di guerra: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 sarà più potente di Dimensity 9000? Quale dei due chip per smartphone premium arriverà prima nel 2022?
Giuseppe Croce Giornalista
Peppe Croce, giornalista dal 2008, si occupa di device elettronici e nuove tecnologie applicate al mondo automotive. È entrato in Libero Tecnologia nel 2018.
Come ogni fine anno, anche al termine del 2021 le big del mondo dei chip scaldano i motori in vista della presentazione dei processori per gli smartphone top di gamma dell’anno successivo. In this case both Qualcomm and MediaTek are busy in view of the presentation of their respective SoC "Flagship" 2022: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (which is the final name of what we previously knew as Snapdragon 898) and Dimensity 9000.
As we have already told you in recent days, to win the race of the announcements was MediaTek that has already revealed to the world the name and technical details of its next powerful chip. Of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, however, at the moment we only know the name but, paradoxically, could be the first to arrive on the market. First come, first served, says the popular saying and it's a saying that fits very well with the top of the range smartphone market: the various Xiaomi, Oppo, ASUS, Motorola & Co can't wait to have the next chips in stock, to start assembling their premium smartphones 2022. If the performance of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and MediaTek Dimensity 9000 would not seem so different, then, to make the difference between the adoption of one or the other could be largely the timing of actual availability on the market.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Vs MediaTek Dimensity 9000
Let's start, then, from the performance (expected and all to be confirmed) of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and MediaTek Dimensity 9000. The first is said to have a GPU at least as powerful as that of the Apple A15 Bionic chip (the one in the iPhone 13) and similar to that of the yet unannounced Samsung Exynos 2200 (which will have a GPU produced by AMD).
In recent hours Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has appeared (or at least it would seem him) among the benchmarks of AnTuTu with a score a hair over 1 million. The current top of the range Snapdragon 888+, for comparison, travels around 800 thousand points.
The same score (also in this case to be verified) was recorded in recent days MediaTek Dimensity 9000 that, however, will have a definite advantage over the competitor marked Qualcomm: it will be produced at 4 nm, while the 8 Gen 1 should still be at 5 nm (but we could be denied). This means that the Dimensity 9000, with the same performance, should consume and heat a little less.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and MediaTek Dimensity 9000: when they arrive
But let's get to the point: who will arrive first between the two challengers? Introducing the Dimensity 9000 MediaTek admitted that it will arrive "in the first quarter of 2022". Which could mean January 1, as well as March 31.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will be unveiled on November 30, a day when it will also be revealed when it might actually hit the market and with which smartphone. Supposedly, the first smartphone with Qualcomm's new chip will be the Xiaomi 12, which will certainly be unveiled in China by the first half of December, but it might also not arrive until January.
As for the actual availability of MediaTek Dimensity 9000, however, today's leak by @TODOPlass on Chinese social Weibo: "You won't be able to buy a phone with MediaTek Dimensity 9000 this year. It won't be available until February next year at the earliest."
If this turns out to be true, Qualcomm would have a prairie to conquer for at least two full months, all by itself.