Another new MediaTek ARM chip for Chromebooks is coming

For quite some time, we didn’t see much movement in the new SoC arena from MediaTek. They first launched the now-named Kompanio 500 with the introduction of the original Lenovo Chromebook Duet and not too long after, we got the Kompanio 800 and Kompanio 1000 series. Those chips hit a handful of devices and then we didn’t hear too much rumbling from MediaTek for a bit.

In 2023, they launched a small bump in the Kompanio 500 series with the Kompanio 520 that is in devices like the Lenovo Slim 3 Chromebook, but that wasn’t much more than a boosted version of the original Kompanio 500 chip.

This year, however, we’ve had tons of MediaTek news. They first introduced a new Kompanio 838 to the world at Computex (which we’d been tracking for quite some time as the MT8188 that will be found in ‘Ciri’ this fall) and then we discovered a new SoC at the top end of the Kompanio spectrum in the MT8196. Details on that chip are still pretty scant, but it is exciting to see MediaTek moving forward on multiple fronts in the Chromebook space.

Say hello to yet another MediaTek SoC

And as of this week, another new chip is now on the horizon. Say hello to the MT8189, a chip that is brand new to the Chromium Repositories and – at least according to the model number – should provide a performance bump over the Kompanio 838 (internally called the MT8188) we expect to see this fall in the Chromebook tablet named ‘Ciri’.

My favorite Chromebook code name yet

A new chip from MediaTek is definitely interesting, but so is the code name for the base board that will spawn all the devices that will house this new SoC. ‘Skywalker’ is of course a reference to Star Wars, and I’d expect some fun names for development boards to arise down the road as MediaTek and their partner manufacturers start getting these devices started in the development process.

It’s very early days for both ‘Skywalker’ and ‘Rauru’ (the baseboard for the more-powerful MT8196 chip from MediaTek), but there’s a chance that these devices line themselves up for a late spring/early summer release. We’ll obviously be keeping an eye on the development of both and will let you know when we dig up more info. Stay tuned!