Report: LG and Qualcomm already working on Snapdragon 845 for LG G7

Qualcomm has reportedly begun working with LG on the next generation Snapdragon 845 smartphone chip. The news arrives via The Investor (sourcing English-language Korean News site Aju Business Daily, without providing a direct link) who claims that the chipset would be housed in the LG G7.

Work on the new chip is believed to have started earlier this month and it’s said to be based on 7-nanometer technology, providing an anticipated 30 percent more power than the Snapdragon 835 — Qualcomm’s most recent high-end processor.

It’s more or less the same story, via the same sources, reported recently with regards to the potential Samsung Galaxy S9. That smartphone, tipped to appear in 2018, would also house the Snapdragon 845 chip.

While these are only rumors, it seems likely that Qualcomm would be working on its next-gen chip already, and that LG and Samsung would be targeting it for use in their 2018 flagship phones. LG had to opt for a less current chip in its LG G6, the Snapdragon 821, rather than the 835 that the Galaxy S8 houses, and it will likely be keen not to give Samsung a power advantage next year. VR/AR processing developments could also mean the difference is more dramatic than between the Snapdragon 821 and 835, so it may be more important that both OEMs make use of it if they target specific VR/AR functionality.

In related news, a recently discovered LG patent may have given us a hint at what the LG G7 could look like — check that out at the link.