Samsung: Major changes for Exynos 2800, Extremely fast memories for AI

Samsung is laying the groundwork for a substantial evolution of its mobile-device processors. Increasingly frequent rumors, in fact, point the spotlight on the future Exynos 2800, a chip that could debut on the market aboard the Galaxy S28 series in 2028.

After a gradual reintroduction of its semiconductors, with the recent use of the Exynos 2600 on some models of the Galaxy S26 line and which will most likely continue with the variant Exynos 2700, the company seems oriented toward nearly complete technological independence, abandoning third-party solutions for the components most critical.

Exynos 2800 will have next-generation memories

A crucial aspect of this project concerns the development of the Vertical Cu-post Stack technology, an advanced packaging system designed to integrate the high-bandwidth memories (HBM) directly inside smartphones.

Currently, these memories find extensive use in servers, but their implementation in portable devices faces substantial physical obstacles, mainly related to thickness, size, power consumption, and temperature management.

If engineers in Seoul were able to circumvent these limitations, the capabilities of on-device, locally processed artificial intelligence on the device would undergo a significant increase.

A success in this area would also guarantee Samsung’s memory division a significant strategic advantage, transforming the company into one of the very few suppliers capable of offering an HBM solution optimized for the mobile sector.

Il ritorno alle architetture CPU personalizzate

The new developments wouldn’t stop at the memory sector. From China, rumors have emerged that the Asian multinational is reportedly planning to reinstate fully customized CPU cores. It would be a return to the roots, but with the clear intention of achieving results that are significantly better than in the past.

Until 2020, the company had used its own cores named Mongoose, which last appeared on the Exynos 990 that powered the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

At the time, energy efficiency issues, overheating and underperformance compared to Snapdragon processors led to the dismantling of the Austin, Texas, development team and the subsequent shift to ARM-provided standard architectures for all subsequent models.

Un’elaborazione grafica indipendente

Beyond the processor, the graphics component is also preparing for a wide-ranging transition. Reports from South Korea indicate the intention to discontinue the use of AMD’s RDNA architecture, which has powered the models since the Exynos 2200.

Although the current Exynos 2600 is based on AMD technology but developed in-house by System LSI, the Exynos 2800 is expected to boast a GPU based on a brand-new proprietary architecture.

Achieving this milestone would place Samsung in an extremely exclusive group of manufacturers, including AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm, capable of independently developing graphics technologies of such a level.

As a confirmation of this direction, in the last three years the semiconductor division has hired numerous specialized engineers, offering annual salaries ranging from 300 to 400 million won. Among the new hires, John Rayfield, an internationally renowned expert with previous experiences at AMD, Broadcom and Intel.