MediaTek has beaten Qualcomm to the starting line. On September 15 the Taiwanese chipmaker announced the Dimensity 9600 Pro, which it says is the first flagship phone chip built on a 2nm process, and the first from any company to announce reaching that mark. Qualcomm is expected to answer at its Snapdragon Summit later this month. Apple’s 2nm A20 Pro is already inside the iPhone 18 Pro series.
Eight big cores
The CPU uses what MediaTek calls a 2+3+3 All Big Core layout: two C2-Ultra cores running up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores at 4.35GHz and three more C2-Pro cores at 3.1GHz. Against the previous generation, MediaTek claims up to 17% faster single-core work and up to 15% faster multi-core work, while multi-core power use drops 61%. Those figures come from demo device testing in MediaTek’s own labs.
A tweaked Dimensity Scheduling Engine decides how computing, power and memory get shared out, so several apps can sit in the background without hogging resources. The chip has a 34.5MB cache and, for the first time in the Dimensity line, LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage.
AI that stays on the phone
The pitch is agentic AI. There are two NPUs, plus an Agentic AI Engine. The second-generation Super Efficient NPU cuts power use by 40% for always-on tasks. The NPU 1090 brings 51% higher LLM prefill performance and 55% more tokens generated per watt, and it can run models of up to 30 billion parameters on the device itself, so fewer jobs need the cloud.
MediaTek says that allows things like analysing data stored on the phone, proactive help and replies that learn your preferences, “like a digital twin.” JC Hsu, who runs the company’s wireless communications business, said devices “need greater performance, efficiency, and intelligence to keep pace with rapidly evolving user demands.”
Games and video
The G2-Ultra NX GPU is quoted at up to 27% higher peak performance, 24% lower power at that peak and 18% faster raytracing, for gaming at up to 185fps. A new Neural Graphics Architecture links the GPU with AI computing.
On the camera side, the Imagiq 1290 ISP works with the NPU. It handles 60fps motion capture and brings 4K240 slow-motion video straight from the sensor to the Dimensity platform for the first time. It also adds 4K60 AI True Color Tone, 4K120 cinematic log and 17EV imaging.
No phones carry the chip yet. MediaTek expects the first handsets, using the Dimensity 9600 Pro and a cheaper sibling, the Dimensity 9600M, to launch this quarter.
Sources
- MediaTek's first 2nm flagship chip is here — meet the new Dimensity 9600 Pro
- MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro Sets New Standard for Flagship Smartphone Chips
