ARM has unveiled its latest premium CPU & GPU for mobile devices – Cortex-A73 processor and the ARM Mali-G71 graphics processor. It is expected that, it could be used on flagship mobile devices in 2017 and both designs based on 10nm FinFET process technology.
Commenting on the launch, Pete Hutton, Executive Vice President and President, Product Groups, ARM said:
“The smartphone is the world’s most ubiquitous compute device, offering experiences that improve with each new product generation. In 2017, we will see devices with the Cortex-A73 and Mali-G71 processors that stand out thanks to their impressive and sustained performance, and even more stunning visuals. This technology can make engaging with 4K video, virtual reality and augmented reality an everyday experience on a mobile device.”
The Cortex-A73, is claimed to be ARM’s smallest and most efficient ‘big’ ARMv8-A core. The company says that the Cortex-A73 can deliver up to 30 percent more performance than the Cortex-A72. It adds that the Cortex-A73 supports the full ARMv8-A architecture and has been optimised for mobile and consumer workloads. It will offer clock speeds of up to 2.8GHz and it will increase the peak performance to power large screen mobile devices.
The Mali-G71 graphics processor unit (GPU) is said to increase graphics performance by up to 50 percent, power-efficiency by up to 20 percent, and support up to 40 percent more performance per mm. The company also says that Mali-G71 was developed taking into account the advanced use cases for high end experiences such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 3D gaming as well as APIs such as Vulkan and OpenCL 2.0. ARM claims that the new Mali-G71 can scale efficiently twice as many as the previous generation premium GPU – the Mali-T880. The company says that the new Mali-G71 is suited to power immersive VR and AR experiences on mobile devices. ARM adds that Bifrost, the third-generation ARM GPU architecture, is the foundation of the Mali-G71.
Highlights of ARM Cortex-A73
- Highest performance in mobile power envelope. Up to 30% higher performance than previous generation.
- Up to 2.8GHz frequency for highest peak performance
- New levels of sustained usage for the best user experience. Up to 30% increased power efficiency
- Smallest premium ARMv8-A processor ever. Premium CPU under 0.65mm2 per core.
- Size and efficiency improvements enhance the ability of silicon providers to use the Cortex-A73 in ARM big.LITTLE configurations.
Highlights of ARM Mali-G71
- Full support for the Khronos OpenGL ES 3.2, 3.1/2.0/1.1, Vulkan 1.0 and OpenCL 1.1/1.2/2.0 Full Profile APIs
- Hardware implemented Full Scene Multiple Sample Anti-Aliasing with 4x, 8x and 16xMSAA
- Frequency 850MHz in 16nm (16 FinFET)
- ARM Mali-DP650 display processor and the Mali-V550 video processor
- Scalability up to 4K120 with up to thirty two cores