There were previous rumors that the main frequency of Snapdragon 8Gen4 will reach 4.00GHz, which is very different from the main frequency of Snapdragon 8Gen3. The highest frequency of the latter's Cortex-X4 is 3.30GHz. However, new rumors claim that the main frequency gap will be more obvious, reaching 4.30GHz, which basically means that Snapdragon 8Gen4 can be comparable to Snapdragon XElite in this regard.
However, a whistleblower seems not confident in these claims. The single-core power consumption of Snapdragon 8Gen4 can reach 10W. How can the compact space inside a smartphone maintain such a clock speed for a long time?
Tipster @negativeonehero earlier claimed that Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship SoC will be finalized in April and delivered to OEMs in June, so it is possible that multiple Snapdragon 8 Gen4 versions are being tested. He also said that it is very likely that Qualcomm will customize overclocked versions for some manufacturers, but did not disclose the details of the clock speed. This time, the same whistleblower uploaded a picture on X. The chip’s single-core power consumption may reach 10W and the operating frequency is 4.30GHz.
However, due to soaring temperatures, the frequency may be reduced to 3.80GHz, which is the highest limit that the Apple A17 Pro performance core can reach. Assuming the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 can maintain a frequency of 3.80GHz, it would still be comparable to the Snapdragon XElite, whose own performance cores can fluctuate between 3.80GHz and 4.30GHz.
In addition to @negativeonehero, @faridofanani96 also believes that it is impossible for a smartphone SoC to reach such performance levels because the cooling capacity of the heat sink is saturated long before the Snapdragon 8Gen4 reaches its peak clock speed.
He also mentioned the OnePlus 11 concept machine with liquid cooling, because this carefully designed solution may allow the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 to run at the highest frequency. Unfortunately, no manufacturer is willing to invest millions of dollars in research and development. A Qualcomm executive also hinted that Snapdragon 8Gen4 will be more expensive than Snapdragon 8Gen3 due to the custom Oryon core.
With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 already estimated to cost $200, phone manufacturers will struggle to make healthy profits off the upcoming chip, so there's no point in spending too much money on complex cooling solutions. It is possible that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be tested at 4.30GHz, but running in space-constrained smartphones may require downclocking.