Samsung's next homegrown SoC, the Exynos 7 Octa, has entered mass production. The SoC is notable as it supports the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set and utilizes Samsung's new 14-nanometer FinFET (3D) structure.
As the name suggests, this new processor will feature eight processing cores. Specifically, it'll use four high-end Cortex A57 cores alongside four low-end Cortex A53 cores in a big.LITTLE configuration. The beefier cores will primarily handle demanding workloads while the slower cores will be utilized for lighter-duty tasks to converse battery power.
Samsung's current SoC, also an eight-core 64-Bit Exynos component, is built on the 20-nanometer manufacturing process. Compared to the older process, Samsung claims the new process enables up to 20 percent faster speeds, 35 percent less power consumption and a 30 percent "productivity gain."
The company has yet to reveal which GPU will accompany the new Exynos 7 Octa. The current solution relies on the high-end ARM Mali-T760 so it's likely that we'll see something comparable with the new SoC.
We'll likely get our first look at the new chip early next month as it's expected to power the company's next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6. Samsung has traditionally limited its Exynos chips to international versions of its various smartphones but given recent rumors suggesting overheating issues with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810, it's highly likely that we could see the Galaxy S6 debut with an octa-core chip in the US.