Thanks to our own +Gabriel Brangers and +Brandon Lall, we’ve uncovered some very interesting info in the Chromium commits that point to definite movement surrounding the latest Rockchip 3399 SoC.
As a newer entrant into the Chromebook game last year, Rockchip provided the SoC (System on Chip) for a few fantastic devices last year, including the ASUS Chromebook Flip and the ASUS C201. Both of these devices performed admirably for ARM-powered Chromebooks and, based on Rockchip’s specs for the 3399, we can only expect much better performance from the Chromebooks that bear this newer chipset.
In the commits (linked at the end of the article if you’d like to take a look) we also see what looks like a baseboard (for testing purposes) codenamed ‘Gru’ along with another board codenamed ‘Kevin.’ Kevin seems to be linked to an incoming device, though details are scant at this point.
The main takeaway at this point? Chromebooks with the new Rockchip are coming soon. And based on the specsheet, this new chip could be really, really good!
According to Rockchip, this processor is aimed at Chromebooks, tablets, notebooks and VR headsets. Clearly, Rockchip is bringing the goods with this one.
Here’s the spec sheet:
- CPU
- Big.Little architecture
- Dual-core 64 bit Cortex-A72 + Quad-core 64 bit Cortex-A53, up to 2.0GHz
- GPU
- Mali-T860MP4 GPU
- OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DX11
- Supoort AFBC (ARM Frame Buffer Compression)
- Memory
- Dual channel DDR3/LPDDR3/LPDDR4-2133
- Support eMMC5.1 with HS400
- Multi-Media
- 4K@60fps 10bits H265/H264/VP9 video decoder
- 1080P H.264/VP8 video encoder
- Display
- Multi-panel display, 4096×2160 with AFBC and 2560×1600
- Dual channel MIPI-DSI, 4 lanes per channel, 1.5Gbps per lane
- eDP 1.3 with PSR, 4 lanes, 5.4Gbps per lane
- HDMI 2.0 for 4K@60Hz with HDCP 1.4/2.2
- Camera
- Dual 8M ISP
- Dual channel MIPI-CSI2 interface, 4 lanes per channel, 1.5Gbps per lane
- External Interface
- Dual channel USB 3.0 with type-C
- PCIe2.1, 4 lanes, 5Gbps per lane
- Embedded low power MCU ofr other application
- 8 channels TX/RX to support 8-ch audio playback and record
According to notebookcheck.com, mass production on this chip has begun, so we should begin seeing devices with these chips hitting shelves pretty soon. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the commits that gives us an real info on specific devices or timelines, but all this is lining up for what looks like a fall release (back to school) of at least one new Chrome OS device rocking this new offering from Rockchip.
Sources:
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/354070/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/351110/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/346855/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/346338/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/356580/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/356584/
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/#/c/357811/
