After Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek also announced the second processor of the same series, Dimensity 9600M. The new chipset aims to bring some of the company’s latest AI and system management features to a wider range of flagship phones. However, there is no completely new architecture on the hardware side. The Dimensity 9600M uses largely the same structure as the Dimensity 9500 in terms of its core components. The real difference between the two chips emerges in MediaTek’s newer software layers and artificial intelligence processing features.
The Dimensity 9600M comes off TSMC’s 3nm-class N3P manufacturing process and retains MediaTek’s all-high-performance core CPU layout. The most powerful C1-Ultra core of the processor can reach up to 4.21 GHz. While there is Arm Mali-G1 Ultra MC12 GPU on the graphics side, APU 990 NPU continues to be used for artificial intelligence operations. Since these components are identical to their counterparts in the Dimensity 9500, the two platforms can be expected to be fairly close in terms of raw processing and graphics performance. Despite this, Dimensity 9600M focuses on more effective use of the existing structure by software rather than changing the hardware.
Dimensity 9600M brings new features on the artificial intelligence side
One of the main points where the new chipset differs from the Dimensity 9500 is that it supports MediaTek’s updated artificial intelligence engine called Agentic AI Engine. This system is prepared for more advanced management of artificial intelligence tasks running on the device. In addition, Dimensity Scheduling Engine is among the features of the 9600M and manages the distribution of processor resources between applications and different tasks. Although the APU 990 hardware remains the same, these new software components can make a difference, especially in artificial intelligence-supported applications and multitasking scenarios. Therefore, the position of the 9600M is shaped as an option that combines the Dimensity 9500 base with MediaTek’s current software features, rather than a completely new hardware.
The first phones using Dimensity 9600M are expected to be introduced this quarter. According to the information in the source, vivo X500 and Oppo Find X10 may be among the first models to use the new processor. Detailed information about the exact hardware configurations of these two devices has not yet been shared. It will be clearer what kind of cost and performance balance the Dimensity 9600M offers to manufacturers compared to the Dimensity 9600 Pro, with the official introductions of the phones. Available technical information shows that MediaTek preferred to improve the known platform of Dimensity 9500 with updated artificial intelligence and task management features rather than increasing the raw hardware power in the new chipset.