MediaTek has introduced its latest flagship smartphone processor, the Dimensity 9600 Pro, marking the company’s move to TSMC’s advanced 2-nanometre manufacturing technology. The new chip is designed to improve performance and power efficiency while supporting more demanding on-device artificial intelligence features.
The Taiwanese semiconductor company announced the processor on 15 September, positioning it as its first smartphone system-on-chip built using TSMC’s 2nm process. The launch comes as chipmakers increasingly move towards smaller manufacturing nodes to deliver greater computing performance without a corresponding increase in power consumption.
A new 2nm design focuses on performance and efficiency
The Dimensity 9600 Pro uses a 2+3+3 all-big-core CPU configuration. It combines two Arm C2-Ultra cores running at up to 4.55GHz with three C2-Pro cores at up to 4.35GHz and another three C2-Pro cores operating at up to 3.1GHz. MediaTek says the architecture provides a 17 per cent increase in single-core performance and a 15 per cent improvement in multi-core performance compared with the previous generation.
Power efficiency is another major focus. According to MediaTek, the new processor can reduce multi-core power consumption by up to 61 per cent compared with its predecessor while maintaining higher performance. The company has also expanded the cache system and added support for LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage, technologies intended to help flagship smartphones handle larger workloads and move data faster.
Using TSMC’s 2nm technology gives MediaTek an early position in the next generation of smartphone processors. MediaTek had previously announced in September 2025 that it had completed tape-out work for a 2nm chip using TSMC’s N2P process, with mass production expected towards the end of 2026. The company has now brought that technology into its flagship Dimensity range.
The launch also comes shortly before Qualcomm is expected to introduce its next-generation flagship Snapdragon platform. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is expected to use TSMC’s 2nm technology, putting the two major Android smartphone chip suppliers into a closely timed transition towards the smaller process node.
AI and gaming receive major upgrades
Artificial intelligence is central to the Dimensity 9600 Pro. MediaTek has equipped the processor with a dual-NPU architecture, pairing its NPU 1090 with a Super Efficient NPU 2.0. The system is designed to handle demanding generative and agent-based AI tasks while keeping lower-power AI functions active in the background.
MediaTek says the NPU 1090 provides a 51 per cent improvement in large language model prefill performance and up to 55 per cent greater token generation per watt. The company also says the Super Efficient NPU 2.0 can reduce power consumption for always-on AI activity by 40 per cent. The processor is designed to support on-device AI models of up to 30 billion parameters, potentially allowing more AI processing to take place directly on smartphones rather than relying on cloud services.
Gaming performance has also been improved through the chip’s Arm Mali-G2 Ultra NX GPU and its integration of graphics and neural processing. MediaTek claims up to 27 per cent higher peak gaming performance, 18 per cent faster ray tracing, and 24 per cent better power efficiency at peak performance than the previous generation. The platform also supports advanced neural graphics features and high frame-rate gaming.
For cameras, the processor supports image sensors of up to 200 megapixels and video recording capabilities that include 8K at 60 frames per second and 4K at up to 120 frames per second with electronic image stabilisation. These capabilities are intended to give manufacturers more flexibility when developing high-end smartphone camera systems.
Dimensity 9600 Pro targets the flagship smartphone market
MediaTek is positioning the Dimensity 9600 Pro for premium smartphones, where it will compete with processors from Qualcomm and other major chipmakers. The company has described itself as the world’s number one provider of mobile chipsets, while its processors are used across a wide range of smartphone brands.
The company has also announced the Dimensity 9600M, a related processor manufactured using a 3nm process. That chip is intended for a broader section of the high-end smartphone market, giving MediaTek two new platforms aimed at different levels of premium devices. Reuters reported that upcoming smartphones using the new processors are expected from manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
The timing of the Dimensity 9600 Pro launch highlights the growing competition around advanced chip manufacturing. Apple has also moved its latest smartphone silicon to a 2nm process, while Qualcomm is preparing its own next-generation 2nm smartphone platform. This means the benefits of smaller semiconductor processes, including improved performance and efficiency, are becoming an increasingly important part of the competition between mobile chip suppliers.
For MediaTek, the Dimensity 9600 Pro represents more than a manufacturing upgrade. Its combination of a new CPU design, dedicated AI hardware, upgraded graphics, and faster memory and storage support aims to make the processor suitable for increasingly demanding flagship phones. The first devices using the new chip are expected to arrive soon, allowing manufacturers to put MediaTek’s performance and efficiency claims into real-world products.
