MediaTek launched the Dimensity 9400 in October as its latest flagship SoC for smartphones. The hardware platform shows how far MediaTek has come in the past few years, making it a strong competitor to big names like Apple and Qualcomm. There are already rumors about a slightly more powerful Plus version that could arrive in a few months. However, the Dimensity 9500 will be the brand’s true flagship CPU in 2025.
We will probably have to wait about a year to meet the direct successor to the Dimensity 9400. But that hasn’t stopped the first leaks about the chip from emerging. If they’re true, the company will achieve a remarkable new leap in terms of raw power.
The Dimensity 9500 could have a new CPU design with speed of up to 4GHz
MediaTek revolutionized its flagship chips in 2023 by implementing a new all-big CPU core architecture. In other words, the firm ditched the power-efficient ARM Cortex 5xx cores in favor of only high-performance Cortex X and Cortex A7xx cores. Both the Dimensity 9300 and the latest 9400 feature a 1+3+4 CPU design. This means that there is 1x super core, 3x high-performance cores, and 4x high-performance cores but at lower clock speeds.
However, according to a recent report, MediaTek will take inspiration from the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite in 2025. Reliable tipster Digital Chat Station said on Weibo that the Dimensity 9500 chip’s CPU will feature a new 2+6 CPU design. That is, 2x “Travis” Cortex-X930 super cores and 6x “Gelas” Cortex-A730 high-performance cores. The super cores on the chip could reach a clock speed of 4GHz.
Manufactured in 3nm by TSMC for high efficiency
The leak says that MediaTek will use TSMC’s 3nm N3P process to make the chip. This will ensure that the Dimensity 9500 is not only powerful but also energy-efficient. Plus, the implementation of ARM’s Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) technology will help boost its performance even further.
There are no more details about the upcoming chip, but it’s still quite early days. In recent years, vivo has been among the top brands implementing Dimensity SoCs in high-end phones. So, it’s possible that the trend will continue in 2025.
