MediaTek Reveals New 5G SoC With Arm's Latest CPU and GPU

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At Computex, MediaTek revealed a new system-on-chip (SoC) that comes with Arm's highest-end CPU and GPU IP, a brand-new machine learning (ML) processor, and the company's own multi-mode 5G modem. Devices using this new chip should ship early next year.

High-Performance Arm CPU, GPU

Days after Arm announced its new high-end Cortex-A77 CPU and Mali-G77 GPU, MediaTek revealed that it’s already working on integrating this IP into its new multi-mode chipset. The new Cortex-A77 promises to deliver 20% higher performance than Cortex-A76, the “laptop-class performance” chip that seems to be living up to the high expectations.

The new system-on-chip (SoC) also comes with Arm’s latest Mali-G77 GPU, based on a brand-new Valhall architecture that promises up to 40% improvement in performance over the current Bifrost architecture.

MediaTek announced that its new chip will also come with a brand-new machine learning processor, although it’s not clear whether or not this design also comes from Arm. The new ML chip promises high performance for advanced applications such as the ability to de-blur photos taken of moving objects or people.

Last but not least, MediaTek emphasized that its new chip will integrate the company’s Helio M70 5G multi-mode (2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G) modem with 4.7 Gbps download speeds and 2.5 Gbps upload speeds.

MediaTek Is Growing Up

In the past, MediaTek tended to stay at least a generation behind its mobile chip competitors, either by not adopting the latest CPU and GPU IP from Arm or by not adopting the most cutting edge process. This has led to MediaTek’s chips either not having competitive performance at the high-end or causing overheating issues in mobile devices.

MediaTek seems to want to go all-in now with its new SoC, integrating both of Arm’s highest performance CPU and GPU designs, as well as the company’s own 5G modem. MediaTek has also been criticized in the past over not releasing the chips' source code, so this is yet another thing the company will have to improve before more consumers start preferring its chips over those of Qualcomm or Samsung.

The company will sample the new chip to customers in Q3 this year, and it should arrive in devices in the first quarter of 2020. More details about the chip's specifications will be revealed in the coming months.