MediaTek’s upcoming flagship processor — the Dimensity 9500 SoC — is reportedly in development, and early leaks suggest major upgrades in AI processing, ray tracing, and power efficiency.
According to a reliable Chinese tipster, Digital Chat Station, the new chip could be launched later this year, possibly around October 2025, just like its predecessor, Dimensity 9400.
Built on an advanced 3nm process
The Dimensity 9500 is said to be manufactured using TSMC’s N3P process, a refined 3nm node that is expected to offer 5 per cent better performance and 5-10 per cent more power efficiency compared to the Dimensity 9400’s N3E process. This could translate to longer battery life and better thermal management on future smartphones powered by this chip.
New Core Architecture for Higher Performance
The leak suggests a new octa-core setup, featuring:
- 1 Cortex-X930 ‘Travis’ prime core
- 3 high-performance ‘Alto’ cores
- 4 Cortex-A730 ‘Gelas’ efficiency cores
This layout moves away from the usual 2+6 design, indicating MediaTek’s focus on more balanced performance and efficiency for high-end mobile devices.
Ray tracing and AI performance get a boost
One of the major highlights of the Dimensity 9500 could be its Immortalis-Drage GPU, built with a new microarchitecture. This promises enhanced ray tracing graphics and reduced power consumption, a win for mobile gamers and creators.
In the AI department, the NPU 9.0 is expected to deliver a whopping 100 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second). This kind of processing power can significantly improve AI camera features, voice assistants, and real-time translation, while also supporting more ML (machine learning)-based applications.
Memory, storage and other features
According to the leak, the chipset may support:
- LPDDR5X RAM
- UFS 4.1 storage
- 16MB of L3 cache
- 10MB of system-level cache (SLC)
This combination would ensure fast multitasking and smoother app experiences for flagship smartphones in 2025.
Launch timeline and expectations
While MediaTek has not confirmed the launch of the Dimensity 9500 yet (officially), the previous model was unveiled in October 2024, so the 9500 could debut around the same time this year. With growing competition from Qualcomm and Samsung, MediaTek seems ready to push the envelope with this powerful and efficient new processor.