Qualcomm still hasn't decided on Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 launch timeline, may come after Apple's M3

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4, which held so much promise, at least on paper, may not launch before Apple's M3, giving the latter yet another advantage in the ARM notebook and desktop space. According to a statement, the chipset maker is still 'on track', but a proposed timeline was not given.

New Discussion still believes Qualcomm's new SoC with the company's custom Oryon cores will arrive on schedule

A tweet from @Ravi_711 mentions Qualcomm's plans to unveil the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 for commercial devices. The chipset, codenamed Hamoa, is 'on track for commercial readiness', but apart from that, an exact quarter for the launch was not mentioned. We expect the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to be announced at the upcoming event, which is said to be in late October, but there hasn't been much development around the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 at the event.

The discussion happening on @Ravi_711's post says that the Nuvia will be sampled in late 2023, with the actual chipsets said to arrive in late 2024 or early 2025, while also mentioning that Hamoa, the codename given to the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4, runs into undisclosed problems. Given that the upcoming silicon was said to be mass-produced on TSMC's 4nm process, it should have gone official shortly after the M2's unveiling.

Simply put, they remain "on track for commercial readiness".

Seems ominous that they didn't repeat a specific timeline.$AAPL $MSFT https://t.co/iMPnFxFLv5

Assuming Apple announces the M3 later this year, along with more Macs that will feature the cutting-edge SoC, it will put Qualcomm at a major disadvantage in the ARM notebook and desktop category, based on the aforementioned timeline. On paper, the specifications of the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 are impressive; it has a 12-core CPU configuration with eight performance cores, support for Wi-Fi 7, an integrated 5G modem, and can also accommodate desktop graphics cards through a Thunderbolt connection and eGPU enclosure.

Assuming the first Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4-powered Windows laptops arrive late in 2024, a price advantage will also be key to generating healthy competition. Unfortunately, San Diego doesn't have a practice of charging competitive prices for its partners, with a previous report saying the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was selling for $160 apiece, making it more expensive than the A16 Bionic.

Regardless, we'd like to see some competition in this category, and Qualcomm is slated to be the next firm to give Apple a run for its money, but that's only if the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 materializes sooner.