While we’re in the middle of the Galaxy S9 hype season right now, Samsung has sparked off speculations regarding their Galaxy Note 9 with its report of the fourth quarter and FY 2017 results. Earlier rumours suggested Samsung would employ 7nm chipset on Galaxy Note 9 device in order to take on Apple’s upcoming 2018 flagships, the iPhone X Plus. New information from the tech giant, however, suggests the Galaxy Note 9 might feature a 10nm or 8nm chipset instead of a 7nm chipset.
Samsung shattered the rumours of introducing the groundbreaking 7nm chipset in the Note 9 with a single press release that laid out its 2018 strategy for its chip-making department.
The South Korean company announced that they are ramping up the production of the 2nd generation 10nm LPP processors - Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 9810 - that will be in the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.
Samsung added that they are mass producing the 10nm chipsets at the new built S3 unit in the home country South Korea. They had earlier claimed that 7nm FinFET process technology with Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) would also be produced at the same plant.
However, Samsung has now hinted that 7nm process technology is out of mass production strategy. “In 2018, Samsung will provide 8nm and 11nm processes to meet customers' needs and start a risk production of 7-nano,” the company said in a press release.
Thus it can be said with certainty that the Galaxy Note 9 will not be powered by 7nm chipset, though Samsung fans can expect an 8nm processor.
The so-called 7nm risk production is what TSMC started last year, and it is alleged the foundry will make Apple’s upcoming A12 chipset. There’s a big chance that Apple’s 2018 iPhones will beat the Note 9 when it comes to chipsets, unless Samsung ships its phablet with an 8nm processor, making it equivalent to TSMC’s processor.
There are no other leaks on the Galaxy Note 9 so far, but we can expect the device to release in August as like its predecessors.
