Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro could be a prohibitive chipset for future flagships. According to the latest news, the next Xiaomi 18 will do without the flagship SoC, but don’t worry because it will still be a performance ace.
Xiaomi 18 without Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro: the new SoC costs too much
The latest news from China cast doubt on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro: this year Qualcomm should diversify its top offering by proposing a standard version and a higher-end one, with differences on RAM and GPU (at least according to the leaks so far).
However the premium variant would be too expensive, a detail that would impact the end user unless the Chinese company decides to amortize the cost. A tough choice that would have led to the compromise: Xiaomi 18 standard could do without the main chipset of this generation.
Clearly this does not mean the flagship will have an outdated SoC: it will instead mount the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 ‘vanilla’, while the higher-end chip should find space only on the bigger Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max.
More leaks on the series’ small model
Waiting to learn more about the chipset side, a Chinese insider has revealed a few extra details about Xiaomi 18. It seems the smallest in the family could opt for a slightly larger screen than the 6.3″ of Xiaomi 17 — but nothing earth-shattering.
Indeed, it is said to be 6.4″ diagonal, probably to gain more internal space (for battery and camera upgrades). Not surprisingly the previous rumors mention the switch to a telephoto periscope: according to the insider Digital Chat Station it will be a 200 MP sensor for the entire range. Moving to the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max models, the return of the rear display is confirmed; the camera setup could take a leap forward with two 200 MP sensors while some rumors mention a 100 MP selfie camera.
