For the first time, **Qualcomm** has introduced two distinct chips designed to power the flagship smartphones of 2027: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. These chips are being used in new models from Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer. The Xiaomi 18 Pro uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, while the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The Xiaomi 18 Pro costs 5,999 yuan (about 720 euros) and the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max is priced at 6,999 yuan (about 840 euros) for the 12 + 256 GB configuration. Xiaomi plans to release these phones internationally by the end of the year. Qualcomm has faced some confusion in clearly distinguishing the two chips. Some features specific to the Extreme version were mentioned in slides that seemed to apply to both. The chips are visually similar, with the only visible difference being a wider golden frame on the Extreme version. This lack of clear differentiation may be due to either a deliberate effort to avoid overcomplicating marketing or a mistake in communication. Both chips are manufactured using a 2 nanometer (N2) process at TSMC, a leading semiconductor foundry. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 (part number SM8950) and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (SM8975) are physically different, even though they use the same intellectual property (IP) blocks. According to Qualcomm, the Extreme version was developed separately and involved a more expensive process than simply selecting the best chips from a batch. On the central processing unit (CPU) side, both chips have the same structure and frequencies. However, the Extreme version offers a 13% performance gain over the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while the standard version offers a 10% gain. Both chips have the same energy efficiency improvement of 37%. The Extreme version also uses an "Offset Package-on-Package" (offset PoP) construction, which allows for better heat dissipation and up to 10% energy savings. The graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture, frequency, and memory are the same for both chips. However, the Extreme version provides a 44% performance gain compared to the previous generation, while the standard version offers a 35% gain. The Extreme version includes High Performance Memory (HPM) and matrix calculation cores, enabling Adreno Neural Fusion technology. This technology can boost frame rates and reduce energy consumption by up to 40%. Both chips use the same neural processing unit (NPU) IP and structure, but the Extreme version has a 50% wider memory access window, allowing it to run advanced AI models called "Mixture of Experts" (MoE) with up to 30 billion parameters. The standard version is limited to a 14% raw performance gain and 20% performance per watt, while the Extreme version offers 35% raw performance and 33% performance per watt. In terms of imaging, both versions of the Spectra imaging block have the same structure. However, the Extreme version has double the video processing power, allowing it to handle 8K60p/4K240p video compared to the standard version's 8K30p/4K120p. The Extreme version also includes the APV codec for professional video capture and the VVC (H.266) codec decoding, which is expected to replace the older H.265/HEVC standard. Qualcomm has confirmed that other smartphone brands, including Honor, iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Redmi, RedMagic, and Vivo, will launch phones using one or both of these chips. The technical specifications of these smartphones will indicate which chip is used, as the logos are not clearly distinguishable.