MediaTek launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro today and it's MediaTek's first processor built on TSMC's 2nm node. The Dimensity 9600 Pro brings two prime cores in a 2+3+3 layout and it's the first chip to use Arm's next-generation C2-series CPU cores. It also packs the mighty Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU, which first arrived on Xiaomi's Xring O3 chipset. Now, let's go ahead and learn what the chip offers and how it compares to Qualcomm and Apple's latest chips.
Dimensity 9600 Pro: CPU
In April, Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) claimed MediaTek's next flagship would push clock speeds close to 5GHz for near desktop-level performance. A few days later, DCS followed up with a detailed specs leak of the Dimensity 9600 Pro that revealed the 2+3+3 core layout including Canyon and Gelas cores.
Now, most of it has come out true, except the peak clock speed. The Dimensity 9600 Pro moves to a 2+3+3 octa-core layout, replacing the 1+3+4 core cluster MediaTek used on earlier flagships like the Dimensity 9500 processor. It's the first Dimensity chip to feature two large prime cores instead of one.
The 2x prime cores are Arm C2-Ultra cores (codenamed "Canyon"), clocked at 4.55GHz. In addition, you get 6x Arm C2-Pro cores: three at 4.35GHz with 1MB of L2 cache each and three at 3.10GHz with 512KB of L2 cache each. There are no Premium cores this year.
Next, the chip packs 34.5MB of total cache across the L2, L3 and system levels, including 16MB of L3, and the L2 cache is 21% larger than the one on the Dimensity 9500.
It's worth noting that the Dimensity 9600 Pro doesn't come close to the 5GHz clock speed. The chipset tops out at 4.55GHz on the Arm C2-Ultra cores. That said, it's still an improvement over the single prime core on the Dimensity 9500 which operated at 4.21GHz.
Apart from that, the CPU also supports SME2 extension (Scalable Matrix Extension 2), which accelerates matrix multiplication on the CPU for AI and machine learning tasks.
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Dimensity 9600 Pro: GPU
The Dimensity 9600 Pro uses the next-gen Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU in a 12-core configuration, the same core count as the Mali G1-Ultra on the Dimensity 9500.
Arm recently unveiled the Mali G2-Ultra NX along with the C2-Ultra CPU and described it as the first Mali GPU to build AI acceleration directly into the shader cores. On the Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek claims the GPU is 27% faster at peak performance and draws 24% less power at peak.
In addition, the Dimensity 9600 Pro delivers 18% faster ray tracing performance than the Dimensity 9500 with support for console-grade gaming at up to 185fps. During the event, MediaTek said that the Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU on the Dimensity 9600 Pro scored 3,029 points in 3DMark Solar Bay Extreme test.
MediaTek has also introduced a new Dimensity Neural Graphics Architecture, which combines the GPU and AI compute for hardware-accelerated frame generation, GPU-based AI upscaling and improved ray tracing. MediaTek divides this work between the GPU and NPU and its HyperEngine software brings further gaming optimisations.
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Dimensity 9600 Pro Geekbench Score
Now, coming to the benchmark numbers. When the early Geekbench score of Dimensity 9600 Pro appeared, DCS's early estimate put the chip at 4,200-4,300 single-core and 12,000-12,500 multi-core.
Later, a Geekbench 6 listing appeared showing a "Mediatek MT6995" chipset (Dimensity 9600 Pro) running on the upcoming Vivo X500 Pro Max. Here, the Dimensity 9600 Pro scored 4,137 in single-core and 12,751 in multi-core.
| Geekbench 6 | Dimensity 9600 Pro (Claimed) | Dimensity 9500 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 4,276 | 3,315 |
| Multi-core | 12,650 | 9,914 |
During the event, MediaTek claimed the Dimensity 9600 Pro scored 4,276 points in Geekbench 6.4 single-core test and 12,650 in multi-core test. According to MediaTek, the Dimensity 9600 Pro delivers 17% higher single-core and 15% higher multi-core performance than the Dimensity 9500. For comparison, the Dimensity 9500 scored 3,315 in single-core and 9,914 in multi-core in our testing.
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Dimensity 9600 Pro: NPU
The Dimensity 9600 Pro uses a new dual-NPU architecture, which is built around an Agentic AI Engine. MediaTek is saying that it can be used for on-device agents that can see, reason and act. It adds a high-performance NPU 1090 with a Super Efficient NPU 2.0 that MediaTek says is 40% more power efficient for always-on AI.
For heavier AI work, MediaTek claims the NPU 1090 doubles INT4 compute and delivers 51% higher LLM prefill performance than the previous generation. It also claims 55% higher token generation per watt and 40% faster LLM token generation. Finally, MediaTek says the chip can run on-device AI models up to 30 billion parameters including Mixture of Experts (MoE) models.
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Dimensity 9600 Pro: Memory and Storage
Coming to memory, the Dimensity 9600 Pro moves to LPDDR6 RAM, which is 33% faster than the LPDDR5X used before. And storage moves to UFS 5.0, which is twice as fast compared to dual-channel UFS 4.0.
MediaTek has also worked on memory management to keep more apps active in the background. It's handled by the Dimensity Scheduling Engine 3.0. MediaTek says the chip can hold 25 apps in memory at once, including large language models. Not to mention, on-device model launch speed is 27% faster with the feature turned on.
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What About the Competition?
MediaTek has launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro about a week before Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit, which is scheduled for September 22-24. However, Apple's A20 Pro is already out so let's check out the performance difference.
As always, Apple has set the highest bar in single-core performance. Apple's A20 Pro appeared on Geekbench, running on the iPhone 18 Pro Max and it scored 4,719 in single-core and 12,677 multi-core on Geekbench 6.
Its single-core result is ahead of every Android chip. On multi-core, the gap has closed, but don't forget that Apple includes only six cores while MediaTek packs eight cores.
Next, Qualcomm's top chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (essentially the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro), is also a 2nm chip and it's said to run at 5.01GHz.
Just recently, the Dimensity 9600 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 appeared on the newer Geekbench 7. The Snapdragon chip ran on a Qualcomm reference design and the Dimensity 9600 Pro ran on the upcoming Oppo Find X10 Pro Max.
| Geekbench 7 | A20 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | Dimensity 9600 Pro (Leaked) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 4,006 | 3,582 | 3,242 |
| Multi-core | 11,460 | 12,247 | 11,132 |
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 scored 3,582 in single-core and 12,247 in multi-core, ahead of the Dimensity 9600 Pro's 3,242 and 11,132 points, respectively. Basically, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 leads by about 10.5% in single-core and about 10% in multi-core.
All in all, the leaked numbers put the Dimensity 9600 Pro behind the Apple A20 Pro in single-core tasks and slightly behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
There Is Also a Dimensity 9600M Chip
Along with the Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek announced a second chip called the Dimensity 9600M. It's aimed at bringing flagship-level performance and efficiency to more affordable phones. The Dimensity 9600M features the older Arm C1-series CPU cores and Mali G1-Ultra GPU. It runs the same Agentic AI Engine, Dimensity Scheduling Engine and the HyperEngine supports gaming up to 185fps.
Dimensity 9600 Pro Specs
| Specification | MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro |
|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC N2P (2nm), over 33 billion transistors |
| CPU | Octa-core, 2+3+3 layout, Arm C2-series |
| CPU Cores | 2x Arm C2-Ultra at 4.55GHz + 3x Arm C2-Pro at 4.35GHz + 3x Arm C2-Pro at 3.10GHz |
| Cache | 34.5MB total (8.5MB L2, 16MB L3, 10MB system level cache) |
| GPU | Arm Mali-G2 Ultra NX (12-core) |
| AI | Dual NPU, MediaTek NPU 1090 |
| ISP | Imagiq 1290 |
| Memory | LPDDR6 and LPDDR5X (10667) |
| Storage | UFS 5.0 |
| Camera | Up to 200MP sensor |
| Video Capture | 8K 60fps, 4K 120fps with EIS, 4K 240fps slow-motion |
| 5G Modem | Integrated MediaTek 5G modem, Sub-6GHz, Peak download up to 7.3Gbps |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.2 |
The Dimensity 9600 Pro is MediaTek's strongest flagship yet but it still has to prove itself under sustained load. It has moved to a 2nm process node, features two large Arm C2-Ultra prime cores and the new Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU looks like a monster.
That said, we still don't know about its thermal behaviour. Two prime cores running at 4.55GHz generate a lot of heat and recent Dimensity flagships have struggled to sustain their peak performance under heavy load.
MediaTek, for its part, claims major efficiency gains this time. It says the Dimensity 9600 Pro reduces ultra-core power consumption by 37% and multi-core power consumption by 61% compared to the Dimensity 9500, which should help with heat. That said, we should test sustained performance in a retail phone before passing a conclusive judgment.
As we saw in our Dimensity 9500 testing, the chip dropped to 59% of its peak performance in a 15-minute CPU stress test. In fact, it started dropping the performance within the first two minutes. Now, whether MediaTek and its partners have actually fixed sustained performance or just added larger vapour chambers to manage the heat is something we will know once retail phones are available.
So if you are considering to buy a Dimensity 9600 Pro phone, I would wait for the sustained performance and thermal results before deciding.
