Samsung is gearing up for a pivotal transformation in its flagship Galaxy S26 series - a move that the tech world has long anticipated.

A strategic leap mirroring Apple

For years, Samsung has sought to restore its homegrown Exynos chips to competitive form. That ambition may finally materialize with the launch of the Galaxy S26 next year, featuring the Exynos 2600, a processor built on the 2nm process and widely considered exceptionally powerful.

Beneath these familiar updates, however, lies a far more significant shift - one that signals a new era for the Galaxy lineup. More than just a hardware refresh, this could mark the realization of Exynos’s ultimate goal: customized silicon crafted specifically for Galaxy devices.

While Exynos chips help Samsung cut production costs, they have lacked true distinction - especially compared to Apple’s monumental success with its custom A-series and M-series chips. Those processors have propelled the iPhone and, more notably, the MacBook to performance heights few rivals can match.

That’s exactly what Samsung is now aiming for. Reports indicate that the company has formed a new “custom SoC development division,” tasked with designing chips exclusively for Galaxy hardware - instead of sharing chip architecture across multiple device lines, as in the past.

This evolution raises a critical question: How will Samsung address the software challenge?

According to PhoneArena, Apple’s strength lies in its complete control over both hardware and software. The A-series and M-series chips integrate flawlessly with iOS, macOS, and iPadOS, delivering remarkable performance and system stability - even if occasional bugs still arise.

Samsung, by contrast, does not own an operating system. Galaxy devices still run Android, albeit with Samsung’s customized One UI. Achieving Apple-like optimization would likely require building an entirely new operating system - something that’s highly improbable in the near future.

This means that, even with powerful custom chips, Galaxy devices may still fall short of Apple’s level of hardware-software synergy.

A path forward for Galaxy innovation

Still, even without launching a new OS, Samsung has opportunities to vastly improve the Galaxy experience. With custom-designed chips, the company can better tailor One UI to harness hardware capabilities more efficiently.

A plausible outcome? Major gains in processing power, longer battery life, and superior energy optimization.

However, this path isn’t without trade-offs. Samsung may have to limit certain Android features or services to fully optimize performance on the new chips. Users could manually disable these restrictions - but doing so might sacrifice some of the performance benefits the new processors offer.

While these custom chips are still in development, changes are already surfacing. The Exynos 2600 stands as a promising first step. Built on a cutting-edge 2nm process, the chip is expected to surpass current Snapdragon processors in performance. At the same time, Samsung Foundry - once trailing far behind TSMC - is now showing signs of revival.

Most notably, Samsung is expected to reintroduce Exynos to the Ultra model after years of exclusive Snapdragon use - not out of necessity, but because the Exynos 2600 might finally be competitive enough.

Everything will hinge on how the Exynos 2600 performs in next year’s Galaxy S26 lineup. Should the chip meet expectations, Samsung Foundry may reclaim its place on the global semiconductor stage, and the path toward fully customized Galaxy processors will undoubtedly accelerate.

No one yet knows exactly how these new chips will reshape the Galaxy S26 experience, but it’s clear this is a turning point - one that could dramatically elevate both performance and user experience.

It may well be the spark that ignites the long-awaited transformation Galaxy users have hoped for.

Hai Phong