MediaTek is expected to announce its next mid-tier mobile SoC, the Dimensity 8500, in the coming months. And the ongoing rumour mill has already given a good idea about the expected specifications of the chipset. Now, a new report has given us a glimpse into the GPU improvements that are making their way via the chipset.
According to tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS), the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 processor will be fabricated using TSMC's 4nm process node. This will result in an 8-core CPU architecture along with the arrival of the Mali-G720 GPU. However, the GPU is said to be considerably enhanced.
So much so, that the chipset is said to be able to achieve above 2 million Antutu score in testing. This is actually a significant jump considering the Dimensity 8400 was able to achieve around 1.6 million.
While the CPU cores of the SoC are not out yet, we can expect it to pack a similar configuration as that of the Dimensity 8400. For context, the 2024 mid-tier SoC features an 8-core setup consisting of 4 x Arm Cortex-A725 @ 2.1 GHz, 3 x Arm Cortex-A725 @ 3.0 GHz and 1 x Arm Cortex-A725 @ 3.25 GHz.
As for the devices launching with this chipset, rumours indicate that the upcoming Redmi Turbo 5 and Poco X8 Pro will likely become the first smartphones to launch with the Dimensity 8500. This makes sense since these are mid-tier "flagship killer" devices and will be priced aggressively to strike a healthy price-to-performance ratio.
Moreover, DCS has added that Honor and Realme are also in line to launch Dimensity 8500 smartphones in 2026. If we go by the trend, the most likely contenders are the upcoming Realme Neo 8 SE and iQOO Z11 Turbo.
DCS also claims that the said smartphones will also feature metal mid-frames, "signaling a shift in popularity." So, there is that as well.
With that said, nothing is confirmed as of yet. So take these developments with a grain of salt. However, we will know for sure once the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 and the devices using it go official.
