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MediaTek is gearing up for another major chipset launch, months after introducing the Dimensity 8259 and the Dimensity 9300+, with the roll-out of the Dimensity 9400 chip.
This may be a big deal for Android users, with MediaTek finding its way into more and more smartphones, shrugging off its previous budget connotations to compete head-on with the Snapdragon and Exynos ranges.
This end-of-year release will probably coincide with the launch of other high-end chips, including the Apple A18 Pro, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and Samsung Exynos 2500, which are all expected in 2024 or early 2025.
Reports suggest this new Dimensity 9400 chip will upgrade from the 4nm node used in the Dimensity 9300 to feature TSMC’s second-generation 3nm N3E node. The processor is also tipped to feature Samsung’s LPDDR5X 10.7Gbps memory.
Technical words, but the net result should be a 30% improvement in single-core CPU performance and about 40% NPU performance upgrade over its predecessor— and a gain for smartphone users.
Here is everything you need to know about the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 flagship chipset: release date, specs, features, and the chip’s place in the wider market.
What is MediaTek Dimensity 9400?
Next Flagship Chipset in MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 Series
Dimensity 9400 is the next major System on Chip (SoC) in MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 series and is expected to replace the current Dimensity 9300 in the top category.
The chip is rumored to be built on TSMC’s 3nm N3E node, which will offer many improvements from its predecessor — in particular, a longer battery and more artificial intelligence functions in mobile devices.
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Release Date
Expected Release Date: October 2024
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 release date is expected to be October 2024, based on MediaTek’s track record of releasing its flagship chips in the last quarter of any given year.
Looking back to the previous three major series launches, the company released the Dimensity 9000, 9200, and 9300 flagship chipsets in Q4 of 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. We expect a repeat of this trend in the upcoming Dimensity 9400.
Meanwhile, a Chinese news outlet claimed the chip will be rolled out in October, though a specific launch date was not mentioned. Be that as it may, we still expect the release date to arrive before New Year, even if it misses the October launch.
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Features
3nm N3E Node, Improved NPU, New Cortex Core CPU, Upgraded GPU, Fast LPDDR5X Memory
MediaTek reportedly uses TSMC’s second-generation 3nm N3E node in the Dimensity 9400 chip technology. This will be the first time MediaTek will venture into the TSMC 3nm node, a step up from the 4nm used in their previous chip series. The 3nm process is arguably the most advanced semiconductor technology and is projected to offer up to 30% energy efficiency.
To test for AI functionality in the chip, Samsung’s LPDDR5X memory was tested on MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 9400 last month, making the chip the first to be validated at an operating speed of 10.7Gbps. This validation shows that MediaTek Dimensity 9400 phones may likely deliver AI functionality at a high level with less impact on the battery.
The Dimensity 9400 is also anticipated to come with an improved Neural Processing Unit, which can offer up to 40% increase in performance for AI-related tasks. While the Dimensity 9300 featured a 3.25 GHz Cortex-X4 core, the upcoming Dimensity 9400 is thought to feature a new 3.4GHz Cortex-X5 Prime CPU that MediaTek is yet to announce. MediaTek may retain the middle and bottom cores, which consist of three Cortex-X4 and four low-power Cortex-A720.
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 MT6991
TSMC 2nd gen 3nm node
1 × 3.4GHz Cortex X5 performance core
3 × Cortex X4
4 × Cortex A720It will be announced in October 2024
Most probably it will miss the lower clock speed efficiency cores🫠 .I hope they fix their modem & heating issues 😉… pic.twitter.com/v0fFYpHNm8
— Sanju Choudhary (@saaaanjjjuuu) May 29, 2024
Geekbench tests revealed that Dimensity 9400 outperformed its closest competitor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, in multi-core performance, scoring 11739, while Snapdragon scored 10628.
However, it falls short in single-core with 2776 compared to Snapdragon’s 2845. Dimensity 9400 tends to outperform the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in a separate AnTuTu benchmark, scoring 3.44 million compared to 3.13 million scored by the Snapdragon.
MediaTek is also rumored to be upgrading to a new Immortalis G9 GPU in the Dimensity 9400, up from the Immortalis G720 GPU found in the predecessor. An Aztek test spotted by a social media tipster revealed that the new GPU has a GB6 performance of 2.7K on a single core, 9.8K on multi-core, and a framerate of 110fps at 1440p resolution, an 11.1% improvement from the Dimensity 9300’s 99fps.
MediaTek Dimensity 9300 vs. Dimensity 9400
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 is expected to offer improved performance over its predecessor. Below is a table summarizing how they will compare.
| Features/Performance | Dimensity 9300 | Dimensity 9400 (Rumored) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Architecture | 1x Cortex-X4 core
3x Cortex-X4 cores, and 4x Cortex-A720 cores |
1x Cortex-X5 Prime core,
3x Cortex-X4 cores, and 4x Cortex-A720 cores |
| Maximum Clock Speed | 3.25GHz | 3.4GHz or above |
| GPU | Immortalis-G720 | Immortalis G9 GPU |
| NPU | MediaTek NPU 790 | NPU computing power rumored to increase by about 40 percent for AI tasks |
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC’s third-generation 4nm process | TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process |
| Memory | LPDDR5T memory running at 9600 Mbps | LPDDR5X memory running at 10.7Gbps |
Which Phones Are Likely to Get MediaTek Dimensity 9400?
MediaTek, alongside Qualcomm, is debatably the two well-known processor brands in the semiconductor market for Android phones.
However, MediaTek’s main market is the mid-range category, where it powers phone brands like OPPO, Vivo, Redmi, and even Samsung.
Upcoming smartphones speculated to be equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 include Vivo X200, Vivo X200 Pro, OPPO Find X8, and OPPO Find X8 Pro.
A tipster on X claimed that MediaTek Dimensity 9400 debut launch rights are with the Vivo X200 series, but this is not confirmed.
MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Benefits: Why it Matters
Dimensity 9400 is expected to benefit Android phones featuring the chip. Notable among these benefits is the boost in AI functionality.
Dimensity 9400’s improvements in the CPU architecture and NPU mean the chip will be faster and have higher performance than the previous model.
The new chip is expected to deliver a single-core performance 30% higher than that achieved by the Dimensity 9300, so energy consumption could be low, resulting in improved phone batteries.
The Dimensity 9400’s inclusion of Samsung’s 10.7 Gbps LPDDR5X memory chip (16GB) will also help the chipset’s Immortalis GPU deliver outstanding gaming and on-device AI performance while saving battery for mobile devices.
The Bottom Line
We expect the Dimensity 9400 to be a feature-rich chipset for upcoming Android devices. New phones from Vivo and OPPO expected to be powered by this processor will likely see decent improvements in battery life and on-device AI functions, courtesy of the LPDDR5X 10.7Gbps memory and new Immortalis G9 GPU.
While it is unclear how the new Dimensity 9400 will compare with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, an early AnTuTu benchmark test shows that the MediaTek chip performs better than the Snapdragon.
Another Geekbench test shows that Dimensity 9400 outperforms Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in multi-core performance. However, These are early tests, so we will not make any conclusions until launch to see how both chips perform on different Android mobile devices.
