Density 9400: 30% better single-core than predecessor

Rumors of overheating during testing were dismissed by MediaTek, and Vivo utilized the Dimensity 9300 AP in its X100 series.

The success of the chip and the enhanced AI capabilities of the Dimensity 9300+ helped MediaTek generate over $1 billion in revenue.

The company is now gearing up to announce the Dimensity 9400, which will also feature a unique configuration. When MediaTek introduced the Dimensity 9300 last year, the leading supplier of smartphone application processors took a risk.

This was because it was the first chipset designed for smartphones that utilized only big CPU cores, without any small cores. The chip includes four powerful Cortex-X4 CPU cores and four efficiency-performance Cortex-A720 processors, omitting the usual efficiency CPU cores like the Cortex-A520.

It is anticipated that the Dimensity 9400 AP will be the largest smartphone chipset, measuring 150mm2, and may contain around 30 billion transistors.

MediaTek Dimensity 9400: 30% better single-core CPU vs. 9300

For comparison, the A17 Pro chip found in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max has 19 billion transistors. The Dimensity 9400 chipset will have a setup of powerful CPU cores, including one Cortex-X5 super core running at 3.4GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores clocked at up to 2.96GHz, and four Cortex-A720 efficiency-performance cores reaching speeds of 2.27GHz.

Additionally, it will feature Samsung’s 10.7 Gbps LPDDR5X memory chip with 16GB capacity, enhancing the performance of its Immortalis GPU for gaming.

The Dimensity 9400 is expected to be released before October 21st, when its main competitor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 AP, will be officially launched.

According to leaks from Digital Chat Station on Weibo, the Dimensity 9400 is said to have 30% higher single-core performance compared to the Dimensity 9300. Additionally, internal tests suggest that the Dimensity 9400 uses only 30% of the energy consumed by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 at peak performance, making it a powerful and energy-efficient chipset.

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The Dimensity 9400 is expected to be manufactured by TSMC using its second-generation 3nm process node (N3E). A potential contender in the top AP market is the Exynos 2500, which will be produced by Samsung Foundry using its 3nm node.

The advantage of Samsung Foundry’s 3nm process is the use of Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, which provide better current leakage prevention and increased drive current compared to the previous FinFET technology.

This gives Samsung Foundry a temporary edge over TSMC, as TSMC will start using GAA transistors in its 2nm production next year.