Rumors of a Qualcomm chipset with the model number MSM8998 have been floating around for most of 2016, with many working under the assumption that it would be the Snapdragon 830. Late last week, the company announced the Snapdragon 835, which seemed to skip right over the 830.
The chipset manufacturer has confirmed to Neowin that the model number for its next-generation flagship chipset is indeed MSM8998, so it would appear that there won"t be an SoC with Snapdragon 830 branding. Of course, the firm wouldn"t confirm that last bit, as the company said that it "cannot comment on rumors or speculation."
Back in April, MSM8998 appeared on the list of SoCs that are supported by Windows 10 Mobile. Within a few months, the chipset was removed from the list - along with the Snapdragon 625 - possibly because it still hadn"t been announced; however, since Qualcomm made it official, the Snapdragon 835 still hasn"t made its way back to the minimum hardware requirements list for the OS.
Earlier today, it was reported that Microsoft is working on x86-on-ARM64 emulation. The feature is rumored to arrive in the Redstone 3 update to Windows 10, and according to Mary Jo Foley"s report, Qualcomm"s next processor will "have the kind of virtualization capabilities that a robust emulator in Windows 10 would require", which is to be the Snapdragon 835.
MSM8998 will use a 10nm FinFET process, which will be made in partnership with Samsung. You can expect devices to begin shipping with it in the first half of 2017, with Redstone 3 slated for a late 2017 release.