MediaTek introduced Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M. Flagship 2nm chips target Apple and Qualcomm

Chip manufacturer MediaTek unveiled a new flagship duo. The Dimensity 9600 Pro relies on 2nm manufacturing and primarily promises a leap in efficiency – for multi-core performance, the company claims it will consume 61% less energy than the previous generation.

Dimensity 9600 Pro offers efficiency and up to 4.55 GHz simultaneously

At the heart of the new chip is an octa-core CPU with a 2+3+3 configuration, which MediaTek classifies as its fourth generation “All Big Core”. It consists of two Arm C2-Ultra cores clocked at up to 4.55 GHz, three high-performance C2-Pro cores at 4.35 GHz, and three more efficient C2-Pro cores at 3.1 GHz. Compared to the previous generation, the manufacturer promises 17% higher single-core performance and 15% higher multi-thread performance – but these are figures from their own laboratories, which we cannot independently verify yet.

More interesting than the raw performance is the promised efficiency. Multi-core power consumption is expected to drop by 61%, aided by the transition to TSMC’s 2nm manufacturing process. Furthermore, the chip is one of the first to utilize LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage, offering a total of 34.5 MB of cache.

In its press release, MediaTek presents itself as the first manufacturer to announce achieving 2nm production. However, someone else got a 2nm chip into phones you can actually buy sooner – Apple. Its A20 Pro processor in iPhone 18 Pro or the foldable iPhone Duo runs on the same 2nm process from TSMC, and these new products will hit store shelves this Friday. MediaTek’s claim to being first thus applies more on paper than in stores. Moreover, according to leaked benchmarks, the Dimensity 9600 Pro is quite close to Apple in terms of total core performance, but it significantly lags behind in single-core performance for now.

MediaTek introduced Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M. Flagship 2nm chips target Apple and Qualcomm Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

Graphics are handled by the Arm Mali-G2 Ultra NX GPU, for which the manufacturer promises 27% higher peak performance and gaming at up to 185 frames per second. The camera can support sensors with resolutions up to 200 Mpx and 8K video recording.

Artificial intelligence also receives attention

The manufacturer places the greatest emphasis on artificial intelligence running directly on the device, without the need to send data to the cloud. This is handled by a pair of NPU computing units with the so-called Agentic AI Engine. According to MediaTek, the new NPU 1090 can work with language models up to 30 billion parameters in size and generate text 55% more efficiently than before.

The second, “super-efficient” unit then handles functions that run constantly in the background, and is supposed to reduce their power consumption by 40%. In practice, the chip should manage things like smart data analysis on the phone or an an assistant that learns your habits. However, these are still manufacturer promises, and real-world deployment will only be shown by the first phones.

Dimensity 9600M will target more affordable flagships

Alongside the top flagship, the company also unveiled the Dimensity 9600M model, which aims to bring flagship features to a wider audience. It builds on the same software features but compromises on several parameters: it received an older generation of cores (one Arm C1-Ultra, three C1-Premium, and four C1-Pro), slower LPDDR5X memory, UFS 4.1 storage, and a weaker NPU 990 unit.

Even so, it will offer agentic AI, gaming at up to 185 frames per second, and support for cameras with resolutions up to 320 Mpx. It is simply a more affordable entry ticket into MediaTek’s flagship world for phones that don’t necessarily aim for the absolute top.

When will they arrive in phones?

According to the manufacturer, the first phones with both chips will appear later this year, and it is expected that these will typically be models from manufacturers like Vivo or Oppo.

Would you bet on the performance of Apple’s flagship, or would you give a chance to the 2nm Dimensity 9600 Pro chip?

Source: MediaTek