A new leak has possibly exposed the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Ultra's cooling systems, important for keeping the phone at a usable temperature and getting the most performance out of it.
Per leaker OreXda, there will be a vapor chamber (a flat copper "pipe" filled with liquid that helps heat transfer more effectively) on the Galaxy S23 Ultra model, while the Galaxy S23 Plus will use a standard copper heat pipe with no vapor element. Meanwhile, the vanilla Galaxy S23 wouldn't get either of these.
This is the same arrangement of cooling tech we saw on the Galaxy S22 series, with the base model having no special cooling solution, the Galaxy S22 Plus having a heatpipe running down the spine of the phone, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra using a vapor chamber.
All these models also used graphite tape and thermal paste to help spread the heat around the phone's metal frame for faster cooling, so we're likely to see that used again on the Galaxy S23 series.
The differentiation in cooling systems between S23 models kind of makes sense considering who's likely to buy which version of the phone. As the top of the heap, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is likely to be bought by power users who'll see the most benefit from vapor chamber cooling while using CPU and GPU-intensive apps and games. However, it's still unfortunate that users who would prefer the Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S23 Plus's rumored smaller frames and smaller price tags have to give up this handy component, or use a downgraded version.
OreXda also clears up some confusion surrounding the chipsets for the Galaxy S23. They agree with the current rumors that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be used in models worldwide, but also claim that the Exynos 2300 we had expected to see used in European S23 models still exists. It'll just be used on other devices instead, apparently.
This is fantastic news as historically, Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S models have outperformed their Exynos siblings. Hopefully, this means a more unified user experience with the Galaxy S23 series, no matter where in the world you buy it.
We're also looking forward to the rumored 200MP main camera on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the alleged redesign of the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 Plus and the new 12MP selfie cameras tipped for all three phones. It shouldn't be long to wait to confirm these and the cooling system rumors, as we may be getting a Galaxy Unpacked launch event as soon as February.
