(Credit: Eric Zeman)
MediaTek is confident its latest mobile processor, the Dimensity 9400, will appeal to smartphone makers seeking to add performance, AI, and media features to their devices. The flagship chip, a successor to last year's Dimensity 9300, was built to handle mobile photography and gaming, as well as AI and modern connectivity, all while making improvements to efficiency. Here's what you need to know.
Agentic AI to the Fore
MediaTek paid a lot of attention to the Domensity 9400's neural processing unit (NPU). Now in its eighth generation, MediaTek says the Dimensity NPU has "Agentic AI" capabilities thanks to the Dimensity Agentic AI Engine (DAE). This powers a handful of firsts, says MediaTek, including the world's first on-device video generation and the world's first on-device LoRA training. It offers up to 80% faster large language model (LLM) prompt performance and does so with an increase in power efficiency of 35%. That's good news, given the media attention that generative AI's power consumption gets. MediaTek says it is working with developers to create a third-party APK that will allow them to target the NPU and its AI capabilities.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)MediaTek is carrying over the All Big Core design of the 9300 using Arm's v9.2 CPU architecture and TSMC's second-generation 3nm process. It includes one Arm Cortex-X925 performance core at 3.62GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 efficiency cores. It supports 100% more L2 cache and 50% more L3 cache. MediaTek claims this design produces a 35% jump in single-thread performance, a 28% jump in multi-core performance, and a 40% improvement in efficiency. This means faster speeds and longer battery life for mobile devices.
The company is making a big push in mobile gaming. The upgraded GPU offers huge gains over its predecessor. The 12-core Immortalis-G925 GPU delivers a 41% boost in peak performance, a 40% improvement in raytracing performance, and a 44% jump in power savings. This will lead to smoother action, more realistic lighting effects, and better frame rates for games.
MediaTek is focusing on mobile content creators, as well. The Imagiq 1090 image signal processor (ISP) can handle a full range of HDR zoom and smooth video zoom while maintaining focus on your subject. If your subject is far away, the Generative-AI Super Zoom feature lets you smooth over the rough edges of pixelated photos. The ISP also helps with 4K60 video capture while requiring 14% less power. Phones with the Dimensity 9400 should be better at capturing audio, too, as the chip supports up to six mics with 24-bit audio recording and AI Audio Focus to mask sudden or unwanted sounds.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Connectivity is key, and MediaTek has given the Dimensity 9400 a modern suite of radios. It supports 3GPP Rel. 17 with sub-6GHz 5G on board and four-channel carrier aggregation up to 7Gbps speeds. It can handle devices with dual SIM cards and dual active data, and manages to reduce power needs by 18%. The Wi-Fi 7 radio can handle download speeds up to 7.3Gbps and is combined with the Bluetooth chip to save 50% on power while offering up to 30 meters more range.
When will we see smartphones with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 on board? The company says sooner than you might think. It expects Oppo and Vivo to make announcements in the days ahead and we might even see something on store shelves before the end of the year.