For a long time, I've been saying that Samsung needs to follow Apple’s lead, but not just by bringing back its in-house Exynos chips—that's already happening with the powerful 2nm Exynos 2600 slated for the Galaxy S26 series next year.
No, the real game-changer is something deeper. It’s what has always been the end goal for Exynos. It’s finally taking place, and it means Galaxy phones are about to change forever.
Key Points
- Custom SoC Team: Samsung has established a new "Custom SoC Development Team" to design processors uniquely optimized for its Galaxy flagship phones, mirroring Apple’s strategy.
- Goal of Synergy: The initiative aims to achieve better hardware-software synergy than standard Exynos chips by integrating the design specifically with Galaxy hardware and One UI.
- Performance Benefits: This shift is expected to deliver significant improvements in power efficiency, sustained performance (thermics), and advanced on-device AI capabilities.
- Exynos 2600 Catalyst: The upcoming 2nm Exynos 2600 for the Galaxy S26 series will test Samsung Foundry's capabilities and, if successful, accelerate the custom chip project.
- Android Limitation: Unlike Apple, Samsung still relies on Android, which might limit the ultimate level of synergy achievable, although custom One UI optimizations can mitigate this.
The Rise of Custom Processors for Galaxy
Apple's iPhone and MacBook line achieved their enviable performance and efficiency thanks to custom-designed A-series and M-series chips. These chips are unique to Apple's hardware and software.
This tight integration is exactly what Samsung wants to replicate.
The company has reportedly established a new, dedicated organization: the "Custom SoC Development Team." This team, nestled within the System LSI Business, is tasked with designing chipsets uniquely suited to the hardware and software on Galaxy phones. This is a crucial step towards reducing Samsung’s reliance on third-party designs (like ARM's standard cores) and mirroring Apple's vertically integrated approach.
The Big Question: Synergy and Android
While this is incredibly exciting, it raises a key question: Will this truly match Apple’s synergy? Apple’s fantastic performance comes from controlling both the hardware (A-series chips) and the software (iOS/macOS). The two interface perfectly, resulting in efficient and fast operation.
Samsung, however, uses Android, albeit with its customized One UI layer on top. To achieve that perfect hardware-software synergy, Samsung would theoretically need to build an entirely new, proprietary operating system from scratch.
That scenario is unlikely to happen soon. This means the news might not be as immediately transformative as some hope.
A New Chapter for Galaxy Phones
Even without a proprietary OS, the new custom chips will help the Galaxy line evolve significantly.
The "Custom SoC Development Team" can introduce new code and optimizations directly into One UI, forcing it to play nicer and more efficiently with the new chips. This can and should result in:
- Improved Battery Efficiency: Better management of power draw by a chip built specifically for the Galaxy device's battery capacity.
- Enhanced Sustained Performance: A custom chip can be designed to handle thermals more effectively, reducing the overheating and throttling issues that plagued older Exynos models.
- Superior AI Capabilities: Optimized NPUs (Neural Processing Units) can accelerate features like Galaxy AI, moving more complex tasks off the cloud and onto the device.
The one potential trade-off is that Samsung might need to restrict or optimize certain standard Android features to maximize the benefits of its custom silicon. However, the gains in performance and efficiency would likely outweigh this for many users.
The Exynos 2600 Paves the Way
Regardless of the custom chip initiative, the standard Exynos 2600 itself represents a massive leap. It is reportedly manufactured using Samsung Foundry's cutting-edge 2nm GAA process technology and has shown extremely promising, albeit internal, benchmark results that suggest it could rival or even surpass the competing Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip.
If the Exynos 2600 proves to be a success in the Galaxy S26 line next year, it will validate Samsung Foundry's technology and accelerate the development of the truly custom processors, finally giving Samsung the spark of innovation its flagships have needed.
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