Arm has revealed its next-generation smartphone chips, and the new Cortex-A78, Mali-G78, and Ethos-N78 promise a whole new turn of speed and efficiency for 2021's flagships. At the same time, Arm is also throwing open its new Cortex-X Custom (CXC) program, which will cook up custom chip designs for those companies which need something special from their silicon.
The mobile chip market has largely been dominated by Qualcomm's Snapdragons but it's hardly the only game in town. In fact, that game is going to be a bit more interesting if not dramatic due to factors outside of the smartphone and silicon industry. Other players, especially MediaTek, are rising up again to nibble away at Qualcomm's part of the pie and Samsung is once again here to remind everyone that it, too, has a thing or two up its sleeve.
Do you care which processor is inside your smartphone? An insider tip this week suggested that the next Google smartphone, the Google Pixel 5, will work with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765. For some users, that's a big deal - but why? Let's take a peek at what that piece of hardware is, what it'll do, and why it might be the make-or-break point for prospective consumers.
The US government's trade ban on Huawei was meant to bring the company to its knees both as punishment for its alleged cybersecurity crimes as well as a bargaining chip in trade talks with China. For the past 12 months, however, Huawei has found some ways to get around some of those restrictions to maintain its business. Over the weekend, the US Commerce Department dealt what could be the most crippling blow to the company, and, unsurprisingly, Huawei has responded with accusations that the US is attempting to strengthen its technology industry by crushing everyone else's.
MediaTek has been on a roll these past weeks, trying to make up for lost time in the mobile market. Of course, it has been aggressively pushing its 5G-enabled Dimensity brand but it has also launched a new mid-range Helio G85 chip for less premium gaming smartphones. Now it's announcing yet another chip, the Dimensity 820 that is clearly trying to take on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765 with a special twist.
Huawei will, for one more year, have to deal with the effects of remaining on the US' Entity List, effectively barring it from access to US products and technologies. All throughout last year's drama, Huawei remained proud in affirming its independence and its capability to make its own products, especially its own mobile processor via HiSilicon's Kirin. The US Commerce Department, however, has now seeking to block even the latter which could eventually leave Huawei with no processors to use for its new phones in the near future.
We mostly cover consumer technology and products here because those are the things that are most accessible to people. That, however, doesn't discount the innovation and progress that happens in the enterprise and businesses which, more often than not, are what keeps the world churning behind the scenes. In fact, Intel might argue that those businesses may be more profitable but also more sensitive. With its newest fleet of vPro-branded processors, Intel isn't just focusing on performance but also on leveling up its security game to protect these customers.
Qualcomm has more or less cornered the premium smartphone segment with its Snapdragon 800 series of chips. But with the Snapdragon 765, it is going after the lower tiers by promising not only performance but also 5G in a single package. It's no surprise, then, that MediaTek, its competitor in those markets, is ramping up its efforts to make up for lost time. Its new Helio G85 chipset may not boast of any 5G connectivity but it is, instead, aiming for smartphones designed for gaming for the masses.
Intel has unveiled its most potent desktop processors, with the 10th Gen Intel Core S-series promising the most grunt-per-watt for gamers and more. The line-up is topped by the new Core i9-10900K, which Intel says will have 10 cores, 20 threads, and support for DDR4-2933 memory.
Chip-developer Arm is hoping to snag a place at the heart of new tech startups by offering access to its chip technology for free, staving off costs until products are actually being produced. The Arm Flexible Access for Startups program offers the company's processor designs, tools, and technical support with no fees, assuming the startups fit some criteria.
Huawei is reportedly working with a European chip-maker on chips for mobile devices and cars, as the Chinese firm explores its options with no end in sight for the US export restrictions. The Trump Administration's decision to place sanctions on Huawei has already prevented it from using the full suite of Google apps and services on its Android smartphones.
Apple's ARM-based Macs are coming in 2021, a new report claims, with the company intending to use a version of its homegrown iPhone and iPad processors to squeeze out Intel. The shift could be the biggest upheaval to Mac since the company migrated away from PowerPC to Intel x86 in 2006, though the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could force some massaging of the roadmap.