Samsung's Galaxy S30 will feature a new, more efficient Exynos chip, and if we're lucky, it may also be in this year's Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

ZDNet reports that Samsung is working with its long-term silicon partner TSMC to prepare for production of the new chip in August. The new chip is believed to be called the Exynos 992, which is based on the Exynos 990 currently used in the Galaxy S20 series. [This packs more computing power into a smaller area than the 7nm chips currently used in smartphones, such as the Exynos 990 and Snapdragon 865. This could not only lead to more powerful chips, but also to increased efficiency, which in turn could lead to longer battery life.

The report quotes a TSMC official as saying that Samsung has "not yet decided" whether it will use this new chip in the Note 20. However, the report also suggests that this new chipset will use the Cortex-A78 CPU and Mali-G78 GPU, IP recently announced by chip designer Arm.

It would be too soon to put these new designs into production in less than two months. However, preparing for February 2021, when the Galaxy S30 would be launched, is a more reasonable timeframe. Therefore, we suspect that the chip will be used in the S30 rather than the Note 20, or that the Cortex-A78 and Mali-G78 will not be used and Samsung will delay the expected August launch date for the Note 20 while it ramps up production.

Just don't expect to see the rumored 992 in U.S. Samsung phones, as Samsung is still using Snapdragon chips in the U.S. version of its phones; Exynos chips tend to be found in Samsung phones in European and Asian markets.

We have seen a lot of rumors about the 992 being used in Samsung phones in the US.

We expect the Galaxy Note 20 to appear on stage at the online Galaxy Unpacked event, along with Samsung's latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold 2. The Note 20 is also rumored to have a 120 Hz display and a camera similar to the Galaxy S20 series, but may have an upgraded sensor.