MediaTek has launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro, its first smartphone chip built on a 2nm process node. Alongside it comes a second, cheaper chip called the Dimensity 9600M. MediaTek says the Pro is the first announced 2nm smartphone chip from any chipmaker. The two chips are set to cover both the flagship and upper-mid tiers of its 2026-2027 lineup.
The first phones built on these chips are expected this quarter. Oppo has already confirmed the Find X10 Pro Max will be one of the first flagships to ship with the Dimensity 9600 Pro. That phone launches in China on September 22, with a separate global launch set for next month.
Dimensity 9600 Pro: What’s Actually New
The 9600 Pro uses a 2+3+3 “All Big Core” CPU layout: two C2-Ultra cores clocked up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores at 4.35GHz, and three more C2-Pro cores at 3.1GHz. MediaTek claims up to 17% higher single-core performance and up to 15% higher multi-core performance than its previous generation. It also claims a 61% cut in multi-core power consumption. Those figures come from MediaTek’s own in-house lab testing on demo devices, not independent benchmarks, so treat them as the company’s claim rather than a verified result.
Graphics duties go to MediaTek’s new G2-Ultra NX GPU, which the company says delivers up to 27% higher peak performance and 18% faster ray tracing than before, at up to 185fps. It’s also the first Dimensity chip to pair with LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage, both firsts for the platform, alongside a larger 34.5MB cache.
On the AI side, the chip’s NPU 1090 is built for on-device models with up to 30 billion parameters, with MediaTek citing a 51% jump in LLM prefill performance. The Imagiq 1290 image signal processor adds 4K240 ultra-slow-motion capture and 4K120 cinematic log video, aimed squarely at flagship camera phones.
Dimensity 9600M: A Rebadged 9500, Not a New Flagship Chip
The Dimensity 9600M sits below the Pro in MediaTek’s new lineup, and it’s worth being clear about what it actually is. MediaTek’s own materials describe the 9600M only in general terms and don’t publish its process node, clock speeds, or core layout. A closer look at MediaTek’s separate spec sheets shows the 9600M is essentially last year’s Dimensity 9500 with minor updates, not a new piece of silicon.
It keeps the same TSMC 3nm N3P process and the same CPU configuration: one C1-Ultra core at 4.21GHz plus seven smaller performance cores. The GPU (Mali-G1 Ultra MC12) and NPU (APU 990) also carry over unchanged from the 9500. Memory and storage are unchanged too, at LPDDR5X and UFS 4.1. What’s new is mostly software: an updated scheduling engine, support for newer on-device AI models, and a camera assistant feature. Oppo’s Find X10 and Find X10 E are also listed on Oppo’s China store. It isn’t yet clear which chip each one uses, or whether all three Find X10 models will go global alongside the Pro Max.
What This Means for Buyers
If a phone’s marketing simply says “Dimensity 9600 series,” that single word — Pro versus M — is the difference between genuinely new flagship silicon and a renamed chip from last year with a software refresh. Buyers comparing spec sheets should look for the Pro or M suffix specifically rather than assuming both chips perform the same.
“AI is central to the smartphone experience, and devices need greater performance, efficiency, and intelligence to keep pace with rapidly evolving user demands,” said JC Hsu, MediaTek’s corporate senior vice president and general manager of its Wireless Communications Business Unit.
