MediaTek has officially introduced the Dimensity 9600 Pro, its latest flagship smartphone chipset and the company’s first processor built using a 2nm manufacturing process. The new platform brings major improvements in processing power, graphics, artificial intelligence, memory, storage and power efficiency, making it one of MediaTek’s most ambitious mobile chips to date.
With Arm’s latest-generation CPU and GPU technologies at its core, the Dimensity 9600 Pro is designed to deliver faster performance while reducing power consumption. The chipset is expected to power the next generation of premium smartphones, particularly devices focused on gaming, AI features, advanced cameras and high-refresh-rate displays.
New Arm C2 CPU Architecture
The Dimensity 9600 Pro features an eight-core CPU built around Arm’s new C2 architecture. It includes two high-performance C2-Ultra cores alongside six C2-Pro cores.
MediaTek has not yet confirmed the processor’s clock speeds, but it has shared several performance improvements compared with the previous Dimensity 9500.
According to the company, the new chipset delivers up to 17% higher single-core performance. At the same time, single-core power efficiency has improved by as much as 37%.
Multi-core performance is also said to be up by 15%, while efficiency in multi-core workloads improves by up to 61%. These improvements could allow future smartphones to handle demanding applications while consuming less battery power.
The chipset also includes 16MB of L3 cache and 10MB of system-level cache, helping improve data access and overall performance.
Faster Graphics and Improved Ray Tracing
Graphics processing has received a major upgrade with the new Arm Mali-G2 Ultra NX GPU.
MediaTek claims the GPU provides up to 27% higher peak graphics performance compared with the previous generation. Ray tracing performance is also said to be 18% faster, while graphics power efficiency improves by up to 24%.
The Dimensity 9600 Pro is designed to support mobile gaming at frame rates above 185fps in supported titles and conditions. It also introduces neural graphics rendering, which uses AI to improve image quality and support advanced super-resolution techniques.
These improvements could help smartphone manufacturers deliver smoother gaming experiences, particularly on devices equipped with high-refresh-rate displays.
Major AI Performance Upgrade
Artificial intelligence is another major focus of the Dimensity 9600 Pro. The chipset includes MediaTek’s new NPU 1090, replacing the NPU 990 used in the previous generation.
MediaTek says INT4 AI performance has doubled, which could improve the speed of certain on-device AI tasks. The company also claims a 55% improvement in token generation per watt and 51% faster prompt pre-fill performance.
A dedicated hardware compression engine has also been added to manage KV cache more efficiently. This could reduce memory requirements for generative AI models running directly on smartphones.
As more companies introduce AI-powered writing tools, image generation and intelligent assistants, stronger on-device processing could reduce dependence on cloud-based services for certain tasks.
LPDDR6 and UFS 5.0 Support
The new flagship chipset supports both LPDDR5X and the newer LPDDR6 memory standard. MediaTek says LPDDR6 can offer up to 33% higher performance.
Storage technology has also been upgraded with support for UFS 5.0, replacing UFS 4.1 support from the previous generation.
The faster memory and storage combination could improve application loading times, multitasking and the handling of large files.
Connectivity features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.2 and a Release 17 5G modem with sub-6GHz 4×4 MIMO support.
Advanced Camera and Video Features
The Dimensity 9600 Pro also improves the connection between its image signal processor and neural processing unit, allowing AI processing to play a larger role in photography and video.
The platform supports camera sensors of up to 200 megapixels and can record video at up to 8K resolution and 60 frames per second.
Its video decoding engine now supports VVC/H.266 in addition to HEVC, AVC, VP9 and AV1. This expands compatibility with modern video technologies and compression formats.
The chipset can also support displays with up to WQHD+ resolution and a 180Hz refresh rate, giving manufacturers the ability to build devices with smoother screens for gaming and everyday use.
MediaTek has confirmed that the first smartphone powered by the Dimensity 9600 Pro has already been announced, with additional devices expected to follow.
However, the company has not yet revealed whether it plans to launch a standard Dimensity 9600 model alongside the Pro version.
The new chipset represents an important step for MediaTek as it enters the 2nm era. With improved CPU efficiency, faster graphics, stronger AI capabilities, LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage, the Dimensity 9600 Pro is positioned as a powerful platform for the next generation of flagship smartphones.
As more manufacturers announce devices using the chipset, its real-world performance, battery efficiency and AI capabilities will become clearer.
