It's no secret that Samsung wants to manufacture 3nm chips next year and aims to be capable of 2nm and 1.4nm manufacturing in 2025 and 2027, respectively. But the company won't create its next in-house Exynos silicon on either one of those processes. The next-gen Exynos 2400, which is expected to power the Galaxy S24 flagship phones in many markets next year, is a 4nm chip.
Samsung's first 3nm chip might also be released next year, except it may hit the market later than the Exynos 2400. And according to a new report from the Korean media, Samsung's first 3nm-based Exynos solution will power the next-generation Galaxy Watch in H2 2024. Whether this solution will be called “Exynos W940” is unclear.
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1st 3nm Exynos chip could debut on the Galaxy Watch 7
Samsung smartwatches have used Exynos chips based on the 5nm process since the Galaxy Watch 4 came out in 2021. The 5nm Exynos W920 was upgraded to a 5nm Exynos W930 when the Galaxy Watch 6 series was released earlier this year.
The new chip has a higher frequency of 1.4GHz, but it's not what most people would call a generational leap. A more significant upgrade will reportedly happen next year, when the Galaxy Watch 7 series will hit the market, rocking Samsung's first commercial 3nm chip.
The Galaxy Watch 7 series is expected to be unveiled at the second big Unpacked event of 2024, sometime in H2. The watches should be accompanied by Samsung's 2024 foldable phone lineup, which will likely be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
In theory, a 3nm smartwatch chip could lead to massive energy efficiency gains, which would make a huge difference to the user experience for these wearable devices. Headways in battery life is something the Galaxy Watch series has struggled with in previous years, but improvements were made with the release of the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 6 lineups. The upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 might represent that huge next step forward that smartwatch users have been hoping for.
