- MediaTek has announced the Kompanio Ultra chip for Chromebooks.
- The chip supports Gemini, but we’ll have to wait for more details from Google next month.
- Otherwise, the new processor is effectively the Dimensity 9400 flagship chip with a few changes.
The company also confirmed in a media briefing that this Chromebook Plus chip supports Gemini, but added that we’d hear more about Gemini on Chromebooks at a Google event next month. For what it’s worth, Chromebook machines already support features like the ability to chat with Gemini from the shelf. Meanwhile, Chromebook Plus models also gain additional AI features like Live Translate, a recorder app with automatic transcriptions and speaker labels, and Help Me Write functionality. Nevertheless, it sounds like Google has more Gemini-related features up its sleeve for Chromebooks with improved AI capabilities.
Basically a Dimensity 9400 in a Chromebook
The Kompanio Ultra is virtually identical to the Dimensity chip on the CPU front, featuring a single Cortex-X925 at 3.62GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 cores. This is accompanied by the same 12MB L3 cache and 10MB system-level cache as the mobile processor.
The most notable difference between the Chromebook chip and the Dimensity 9400 is the GPU. We’ve got the same Immortalis-G925 GPU, but in an 11-core configuration for the Kompanio Ultra versus a 12-core part for the Dimensity SoC.
MediaTek also used the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U chip as its point of comparison for CPU and GPU performance. It claimed up to 18% faster single-threaded performance in GeekBench 6.2 at half the power (7W versus 15W). It also claimed 40% faster multi-threaded performance at the same power and 30% less power consumption at the same performance level. We’ll take these figures with a pinch of salt, but this would definitely deliver plenty of performance and power savings for a Chromebook.
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As for GPU performance, the Kompanio Ultra apparently offers up to 40% faster performance in the GFXBench Manhattan 3.0 test. The processor has ray tracing support, but MediaTek cautioned that Chrome OS doesn’t support it.
MediaTek also promises up to 20 hours of battery life, which isn’t a surprise for an Arm chip. The firm says you can expect up to 29% better battery life than the Intel Core Ultra 5 115U when using the same 60Wh battery.
Other notable specs include a second-generation 3nm TSMC design, the ability to support two external 4K displays (as well as the internal screen), Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7 (up to 7.3Gbps downlink speeds), 4K/60fps encode and decode, and low-power standby keyword detection via dedicated audio digital signal processors. Oddly enough, the fine print in MediaTek’s marketing material notes that Chrome OS doesn’t support Bluetooth 6.0. So fingers crossed that Google brings support for more hardware advancements to the platform.
Interested in a Chromebook with the Kompanio Ultra chip? MediaTek says devices with this new processor will be available in the “coming months.” So you might have a while to wait to get your hands on these machines.