The first new ARM architecture in the last ten years, the ARMv9, was introduced in March this year. Today, the company unveiled the first ARMv9-based CPU and GPU designs that will power the next wave of smartphones – especially flagships – in 2022. However, the company is targeting smartphones and laptops with its new CPU and GPU designs based on the ARMv9 architecture.
Today’s most important product tf Arm’s kitty is the Cortex-X2 ‘prime’ core, which succeeds the Cortex-X1 launched last year. A part of the CXC program that allows OEMs to work with Arm and develop a custom high-power ‘X’ core for their devices, the Cortex-X2 is aimed to deliver a 30% jump in single-thread performance vis-a-vis 2021 flagship Android phones with a Cortex-X1 chip inside. The company also touts a 40% performance gain wompared to ‘mainstream 2020 laptops’ while the L3 cache has gone up to 16MB.
Arm’s big.LITTLE core design (performance cores + efficiency cores) has been active duty for a while now. The next in line to bear the torch is the Cortex-A710 ‘big’ CPU core that succeeds last year’s Cortex-A78 design. The company touts a 30% higher energy efficiency and 10% performance gain with the Cortex-A710 core, alongside a 2x boost for ML-based tasks. The new ‘big’ body is said to appear in a wide class of devices ranging from smartphones and laptops to smart TVs and other smart home devices.
And lastly, we have the Cortex-A510 ‘LITTLE’ efficiency core that is claimed to be 20% faster, 35% more energy-efficient, and 3x better when it comes to machine learning and related tasks. It can be used in various core cluster configurations for devices such as phones, XR wearables, and smart home gadgets, to name a few. At the heart of it is the new DynamIQ Shared Unit-110 that opens the doors for multiple core cluster configurations, allowing partners to design their chips based on their desired same performance profile.
For example, a cluster of four Cortex-X2 and four Cortex-A710 cores would be ideal for high-end laptops, a tri-cluster (1+3+4) design is known to work for smartphones, while smart home devices can pack four ‘LITTLE’ cores for non-demanding computing scenarios. Arm says DSU-110 brings 5x higher bandwidth, higher multiprocessor output, lower latency, and better scalability.
Additionally, Arm is also introducing new graphics solutions as well. At the top of the food chain is iarethe new Mali-G710 flagship GPU with offers a 20% performance uplift when it comes to demanding tasks like gaming, 20% higher energy efficiency, and 35% improvement at machine learning-based tasks. The company aims to fit its new flagship GPU inside Chromebooks and high-end smartphones.
A slightly less powerful alternative to it would be the Mali-G610 GPU that succeeds the Mali-G68 graphics engine from last year. This ‘sub-premium’ solution borrows many elements from its top-tier sibling but aims to offer a smooth AAA-gaming experience on upper mid-range smartphones.
Furthermore, Arm is adding a couple of new mid-range and entry-level GPUs to its portfolio in the form of Mali-G510 and Mali-G310. Aside from a performance boost, these new offerings are also said to be more energy-efficient and have been designed considering devices such as budget smartphones, AR & VR devices, and Chromebooks,
