Qualcomm's new Snapdragon chipset has been built to help ease the RAM crisis

It brings comprehensive upgrades to the CPU, GPU, and NPU

by · TechRadar

News By James Rogerson Published 9 September 2026

Image Credit: Qualcomm (Image credit: Qualcomm)

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  • Qualcomm has detailed its next flagship Snapdragon chipset
  • It features a Hexagon NPU that reduces the reliance on RAM for AI tasks
  • It also includes the world's first 5GHz mobile CPU

AI is transforming technology, but it’s also causing some real issues, especially with regard to RAM, which is now in high demand and short supply (cue spiraling RAM prices). But Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship smartphone chipset could help address this issue.

In a series of blog posts, the company has revealed that its new, as-yet-unnamed mobile silicon brings AI processing closer to the chipset, reducing its reliance on RAM in the process.

It achieves this in large part through a new Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit), which uses various techniques to power “larger-model-class AI experiences with low power consumption and memory requirements” so that AI on phones can be both responsive and private — in other words, it won’t need masses of RAM or to communicate with cloud servers so frequently.

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As a result, it’s possible that phones will be able to keep up with growing AI demands without enormous RAM requirements, which in turn could help ease the RAM crisis.

Additionally, the Hexagon NPU includes an Element Accelerator that speeds up AI operations, and it has 50% more Large Shared Memory, which “helps keep model state, context, and KV-cache data closer to the accelerators, reducing trips to external memory and helping agents answer, revise, plan, and act with less waiting” for a smoother experience.

Big upgrades to the CPU and GPU as well

(Image credit: Qualcomm)

But the NPU is not the only significant selling point of this chipset, as Qualcomm also explained that its new silicon sports the world’s first 5GHz mobile CPU — which, unsurprisingly, means it’s also the world’s fastest mobile CPU.

This CPU also includes a new FlexCache feature, which reduces how often the cores need to reach system memory, helping ensure peak performance is maintained even when memory is limited — which, as with the changes to the NPU, could reduce reliance on RAM.

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