Chipsets for U.S. Galaxy S22 series to be made by Samsung using 4nm process node

Last year, the first chips produced using the 5nm process node were rolled out by TSMC and Samsung Foundry. The iPhone 12 series and the iPad Air (2020) were among the first devices to sport 5nm chips. We expect to see chips made using the 4nm process node to hit the market during the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 delivering more powerful and energy-efficient components. According to MyDrivers, Samsung will be using its 4nm process node to produce the Snapdragon 898 chipset (SM8450 is the model number).

The Snapdragon 898 is the successor to the currently employed 5nm Snapdragon 888 SoC that is built by Samsung Foundry and is currently used on several high-end Android phones such as the recently unveiled Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. The Snapdragon 898 will supposedly hike performance by 20% and employ a three-cluster architecture that includes a large Cortex-X2 core, a large Cortex-A710 core, and a small Cortex-A510 core.

The new chip should be unveiled in December of this year with the first phone to use the component expected to be released in December 2021 or January 2022. The U.S. version of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series will probably be among the first handsets to employ the Snapdragon 898. The enhanced version of the chip, the Snapdragon 898 Plus, should be powering certain handsets during the second half of 2022.

Unlike the Samsung-built Snapdragon 898, the Snapdragon 898 Plus will be manufactured by TSMC using its 4nm process node and will probably start finding its way into new handsets during the second half of next year.