Upcoming MediaTek MT8196 Chromebooks will basically have the Dimensity 9400 inside

Wow! I was not prepared for this today. After doing some extensive digging around, I’ve finally mapped out the cores that will be inside the MediaTek MT8196 that we’ve been tracking the development of for at least a couple upcoming Chromebooks. As a quick reminder, the baseboard for this particular SoC is ‘Rauru’ with ‘Hylia’ and ‘Navi’ being the primary devices we’re expecting at some point in 2025.

Also of note is the model number, here. The MediaTek MT8195 (a.k.a. – Kompanio 1200 and 1380) was in a couple devices a few years back, and it was by far the fastest, most capable ARM SoC we’ve had in any Chromebooks to date. Both the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 and the HP Chromebook x360 14b showcased that chip’s power, but neither sold too well. In the case of the excellent Acer Chromebook Spin 513, I have no idea why that was the case. That device was one of my all-time favorites and spent most of its life incredibly difficult to procure.

Understanding the power of the MT8196

I’m hoping that isn’t the case with the new MT8196, becuase as we’ve seen via benchmarks already, this chip has some real power to it. This processor won’t be “fast for an ARM-based Chromebook.” It will flat-out be fast. Period.

Still, I’ve really wanted to narrow down what cores we’re dealing with in the MT8196 to get a better feel for what we can expect. Today, I’ve found that evidence, and it is really good news for Chromebook fans. Check out the ARM Cortex cores we’re looking at in the MT8196:

I don’t keep up with the nuances of ARM cores that much, but I figured if I knew we’re looking at 4 Cortex-A720 cores, 3 Cortex-X4 cores, and one Cortex-X925 core, I could find something in the market that is similar enough to get a better picture of what the MT8196 will be eventually capable of. And not only did I find something close; I found an absolutely identical match:

That’s right! From the looks of it, the MT8196 is basically none other than the Dimensity 9400 with a new name. Yes, there will probably be a few tweaks to it for Chromebook use, but this SoC is no joke and can be found around the web going toe-to-toe with the latest from both Apple and Qualcomm in terms of overall speed and GPU performance.

Assuming MediaTek keeps the same Arm Immortalis-G925 MC12 GPU that the Dimensity 9400 has, this thing should absolutely be a beast running ChromeOS. Add to that the inclusion of Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and support for 8K60 video/camera capture, there won’t be any shortcomings with the MT8196 when it does eventually land in a Chromebook.

There were hints that one of these upcoming MT8196-powered devices – ‘Hylia’ – was possibly a tablet, but I’ve yet to find any other supporting evidence on that front. But even if we only saw a couple thin, light clamshells and/or convertibles with this chip inside, I’d be more than happy. The battery life we’ll likely see out of this chip combined with excellent thermals, robust speed, and a very smooth interoperability with Android (we know that the Android kernel is on the way, after all) make me so excited to see one of these Chromebooks as soon as humanly possible.

Development has been underway since December of 2023, so there’s no reason not to expect these devices to materialize in 2025. Will it be at the spring Chromebook event? Or will it push towards the fall? If you know me, you know which one I’m incredibly hopeful for, and without doubt, this is the most exciting ARM-based Chromebook news we’ve ever seen. Stay tuned for more as we find it!