MediaTek has unveiled two high-end smartphone chips—the Dimensity 9600 Pro and the Dimensity 9600M—with the 9600 Pro built on a 2nm process and the 9600M on a 3nm process. Given Samsung’s recent use of MediaTek flagship chips in its Galaxy Tab S series, the company is expected to use the Dimensity 9600 Pro to power the Galaxy Tab S13 and Galaxy Tab S13 Ultra in 2027.
Dimensity 9600 Pro: flagship specifications and performance
The Dimensity 9600 Pro features an octa-core CPU comprising two Arm C2‑Ultra cores at 4.55GHz, three Arm C2‑Pro cores at 4.35GHz and three additional C2‑Pro cores with a 3.1GHz maximum frequency. Graphics are handled by Arm’s Mali‑G2 Ultra NX GPU with 12 cores. The chip includes 34.5MB of total cache (L2, L3 and SLC) shared across CPU, GPU and NPU, and is compatible with LPDDR6 RAM (10667MHz) and UFS 5.0 storage.
MediaTek claims the 9600 Pro’s CPU delivers 17% better single‑core and 15% better multi‑core performance versus the Dimensity 9500. The company also reports power advantages: up to 61% lower power consumption across all cores and around 37% lower power use for the ultra‑large CPU cores on comparable tasks.
GPU enhancements use MediaTek’s Neural Graphics Architecture, a third‑generation ray‑tracing engine and hardware‑accelerated OMM ray‑tracing. The chip supports MediaTek’s Frame Rate Converter 4.0 AI frame interpolation and can reach native 185+ fps gaming. It can drive WQHD+ displays at up to a 180Hz variable refresh rate and supports tri‑port MIPI for tri‑folding displays.
The integrated NPU 1090 adopts a Dual NPU Architecture and can run local AI Mixture‑of‑Experts (MoE) models on‑device. A secondary low‑power co‑processor, Super Efficient NPU 2.0, handles always‑on background tasks; MediaTek states the setup is 55% better in token generation per watt and 51% faster at LLM prefill. Imaging capabilities via the AI Imaging Fusion Architecture (ISP‑NPU) support up to 200MP sensors including LOFIC and UFCC cameras, 4K 240fps slow‑motion, 4K 60fps HDR and up to 8K 60fps video recording. The chip also includes a VVC (H.266) hardware video decoder.
For connectivity the Dimensity 9600 Pro integrates a 5G modem, Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.2, NFC and a USB 3.2 Type‑C port. Its modem supports Triple‑SIM Triple‑Active (TSTA) operation and navigation via BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, NavIC and QZSS.
Dimensity 9600M: rebranded Dimensity 9500
The Dimensity 9600M is essentially a rebranded Dimensity 9500 and is likely produced on TSMC’s 3nm process. Its octa‑core CPU consists of one Arm C1‑Ultra core at 4.21GHz, three C1‑Premium cores at 3.5GHz and four C1‑Pro cores at 2.7GHz. The GPU is the same Mali‑G1 Ultra MC12 12‑core unit used in the Dimensity 9500. The 9600M supports LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage.
The GPU can drive WQHD+ displays at up to 180Hz and supports tri‑folding phones. The MediaTek NPU 990 uses a Dual NPU Agentic Architecture and supports Agentic AI and Generative AI. The Imagiq ISP supports up to 320MP cameras, 4K 120fps recording with electronic stabilization, 4K 60fps HDR with background blur and stabilization, and 8K 60fps recording.
Other features of the 9600M include a Dual‑SIM Dual‑Active 5G modem, GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and NavIC positioning, Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC and a USB 3.2 Type‑C connection.
MediaTek positions the Dimensity 9600 Pro as its flagship chipset for 2026, while the 9600M serves as an updated iteration of last year’s high‑end silicon.
