[News] MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Debuts: All-Big-Core and TSMC 3nm Challenge Qualcomm, Apple

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MediaTek, a leading IC design company, has unveiled its flagship 5G Agentic AI processor, the Dimensity 9400, positioning it as an Arm PC-class processor. The chip features a second-generation all-big-core design, combining Arm v9.2 CPU architecture with advanced GPU and NPU technologies, promising high performance and ultra-energy efficiency. According to a report from TechNews, products powered by the Dimensity 9400 are expected to hit the market soon, setting the stage for a showdown with Apple’s A18 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

The Dimensity 9400 employs a second-generation all-big-core CPU, featuring a single Arm Cortex-X925 core clocked at 3.62GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 performance cores. Compared to its predecessor, the Dimensity 9300, the new chip offers a 35% boost in single-core performance and a 28% improvement in multi-core performance. Additionally, the Dimensity 9400 is built on TSMC’s advanced 3nm (N3E) process, resulting in a 40% reduction in power consumption, providing users with significantly longer battery life.

The processor also integrates MediaTek’s 8th-gen AI processor, the NPU 890, which supports on-device LoRA training and high-definition image generation, while offering developers access to Agentic AI capabilities. This results in a substantial improvement in AI performance and efficiency compared to the previous generation, with an 80% increase in prompt performance for large language models (LLM) and a 35% reduction in power consumption.

TechNews also highlighted that while the Dimensity 9400 emphasizes its all-big-core design, the configuration differs slightly from the previous Dimensity 9300, which used four Cortex-X4 cores and four Cortex-A720 cores. MediaTek explained that the new design was made for energy efficiency, as users don’t always need to run applications at the highest clock speeds of all big cores. Whether the performance lives up to MediaTek’s claims will be determined once the actual products hit the market.

Even before its launch, the Dimensity 9400 generated significant market interest. Reports suggest that vivo’s X200 series and OPPO’s Find X8 will be among the first devices to feature the new processor. Additionally, Samsung is considering replacing its in-house Exynos processor with the Dimensity 9400 in its upcoming Galaxy S25 series, set for release in 2025.

(Photo credit: MediaTek)