Samsung’s development of the Exynos 2500 has been a roller-coaster of a ride so far. First, a notable analyst reported that due to poor yields of the company’s 3nm GAA process, its upcoming SoC would not ship in time, meaning that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 would exclusively power the Galaxy S25 series. Now, one tipster mentions that the Korean giant has witnessed some progress with the Exynos 2500, as the prototype version of the cutting-edge silicon can operate at higher frequencies while being more power-efficient than Apple’s A15 Bionic.
Current Exynos 2500 prototype is said to operate at 3.20GHz, matching the top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s clock speeds
A boatload of reports have stated that Samsung has struggled with its 3nm GAA process, maxing out at just 20 percent yields, making it a disappointing display of foundry prowess. However, the company has provided assurance over this matter, and during its Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) and Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem Forum (SAFE) held in Seoul earlier this month, executives stated that the 3nm GAA node has stable yields and performance. Just a few days have passed, and @MappleGold has pushed out a post saying that there is positive development surrounding the prototype version of the Exynos 2500.
Not only has Samsung been able to hit clock speeds of 3.20GHz, which will help with single-core and multi-core performance numbers, but the SoC has outperformed Apple’s A15 Bionic in power efficiency. Bear in mind that the A15 Bionic is a few years old and is mass produced on TSMC’s previous-generation 5nm process. Assuming Samsung wants to target the Exynos 2500 power level at the same range as the A17 Pro or go higher, it may have to drop those clock speeds, leaving some performance on the table.
It seems that Samsung's hard work is going smoothly, the latest prototype of the exynos 2500 has come out, and making it the chip with the best efficiency ever, it even offsets the efficiency of Apple A15 bionic with a frequency of 3.2Ghz.
— Mapple_gold (@MappleGold) July 13, 2024
A separate rumor also mentioned that the Exynos 2500’s initial CPU and GPU tests were higher than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and its rumored 10-core CPU cluster was likely to contribute to these results. However, a higher CPU core count’s biggest advantage is increased power draw, and if Samsung sticks with this configuration, it may not be possible to tweak the power efficiency of the upcoming silicon considerably. For now, Samsung will probably continue its work on the chipset so it can be ready to launch it in the coming months.
For all those believing that the Exynos 2500 may not materialize, Samsung has launched the Exynos W1000 for its latest smartwatches and used its 3nm GAA process to mass produce the silicon, so we have some hope from the company.
News Source: @MappleGold
