MediaTek launches Dimensity 9600 Pro, claiming first 2nm phone chip

MediaTek said it launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro flagship smartphone chipset, describing it as the first company announcement of a mobile SoC — the main brain of a phone — built on a 2nm process node. The company pitches a dual-NPU / Agentic AI Engine stack for on-device models (claims up to about 30 billion parameters), plus gaming and imaging upgrades, and introduced a related Dimensity 9600M for broader flagship phones. First phones with both chips are expected this quarter, the company said.

A flagship phone chip pitched for on-device agentic AI, with MediaTek claiming the first 2nm mobile SoC announce and a broader 9600M follow-on. That is a concrete product drop in the phone AI silicon race, not another pacing or market-echo story.

MediaTek, the Taiwan chip designer, published “MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro Sets New Standard for Flagship Smartphone Chips” on its press room on 15 Sep 2026, datelined Hsinchu, Taiwan. It said it launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro, a flagship smartphone SoC — system-on-chip, the main brain of a phone. The company said it is the first to announce reaching a 2nm process threshold for this class of smartphone chip. 2nm is a very small chip-manufacturing process; smaller usually means more transistors and better efficiency. That company press room post is the filing event. These are company claims. This desk did not tear down a phone.

Reuters’ same-day Taipei wire, by Wen-Yee Lee, reports MediaTek unveiled a new smartphone chip made using TSMC’s most advanced manufacturing technology. Reuters says the Dimensity 9600 Pro is MediaTek’s first mobile processor built on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 2-nanometre process, and that MediaTek also introduced the Dimensity 9600M on TSMC’s 3-nanometre process for a broader flagship segment. File the TSMC name and the 9600M 3nm frame as Reuters’. Prefer MediaTek’s wording for product claims. This desk is not inventing a foundry contract beyond what those sources print.

CPU, as MediaTek tells it: a 2+3+3 All Big Core design — two C2-Ultra cores up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores at 4.35GHz, and three C2-Pro cores at 3.1GHz. The company claims up to 17% higher single-core performance and 15% higher multi-core performance versus the prior generation, and a 61% drop in multi-core power consumption. File those clocks and percentages as MediaTek’s versus its own last chip. This desk did not run a benchmark.

AI, still the company’s: a dual-NPU architecture plus an Agentic AI Engine for on-device models. An NPU is a neural processing unit — a chip block built for AI math. On-device means the model runs on the phone, not only in the cloud. Agentic AI here means software that can take multi-step actions, not just answer one chat turn. MediaTek says a second-generation Super Efficient NPU uses 40% less power for always-on AI, and that the NPU 1090 delivers 51% higher LLM prefill and 55% higher tokens per watt. An LLM is a large language model — the kind of AI that writes and reasons in language. Prefill is the work the chip does on your prompt before the model starts talking back. The company says the chip can run complex on-device apps, including models up to 30 billion parameters. File 40%, 51%, 55%, and 30 billion as MediaTek’s. This desk did not run a model on the chip.

Memory and storage, the company said: a larger 34.5MB cache, and the first Dimensity mention of LPDDR6 memory plus UFS 5.0 storage in this press release. File those names as MediaTek’s. This desk did not time a memory bus.

GPU and gaming, still company figures: a G2-Ultra NX GPU with up to 27% higher peak performance, 24% lower power at peak, and 18% faster ray tracing — drawing lighting and reflections more like a game console. MediaTek claims gaming up to 185 frames per second, plus a Dimensity Neural Graphics Architecture that mixes GPU and AI compute, and HyperEngine game software. File 27%, 24%, 18%, and 185fps as MediaTek’s. This desk did not play a title on the chip.

Imaging, the company said: an Imagiq 1290 image signal processor, or ISP — the block that turns camera sensor data into a photo or video — plus Dimensity AI Imaging Fusion. Named company features include NPU-powered 60fps motion capture, 4K240 native ultra-slow-motion, 4K60 AI True Color Tone, 4K120 cinematic log, and 17EV imaging. File those names and numbers as MediaTek’s. This desk did not shoot a clip.

MediaTek also introduced the Dimensity 9600M, a companion chipset it says will bring flagship-class AI, gaming, and imaging to more phones. The first smartphones powered by the 9600 Pro and the 9600M are expected this quarter, the company said. Reuters likewise says the first phones using both chips will launch soon. File the sibling chip and the quarter timing as MediaTek’s — a company forecast, not a phone this desk can name. This desk is not inventing an OEM, a model name, or a price.

JC Hsu, corporate senior vice president and general manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications Business Unit, is the named voice on the company press room post. File the name and title as MediaTek’s. His quotes are color only and stay in Sources.

PRIMARY here: MediaTek’s 15 Sep 2026 press room post — Tier A company source, the originating English announce — plus the Dimensity product home as product-home context, not a second originating newsroom. INDEPENDENT: Reuters’ same-day Wen-Yee Lee Taipei wire. The 9600 Pro launch, the first-to-announce 2nm line, the dual-NPU / Agentic AI Engine pitch, the 30-billion-parameter claim, the CPU / GPU / imaging percentages, the 9600M sibling, the this-quarter phone timing, and the Hsu name are MediaTek-attributed. The TSMC foundry name, the 9600 Pro as MediaTek’s first chip on TSMC 2nm, and the 9600M on TSMC 3nm are Reuters-attributed. NOT claimed: named OEM phones, an MSRP, independent lab benchmarks, that MediaTek beats Qualcomm or Apple, gadget-blog rumors, that this desk tested a phone, a stock tip, or investment advice. Distinct from the already-filed euclyd-200m-series-a, cornelis-205m-active-compute-fabric, perplexity-portable-windows-rtx, and apple-ios-27-siri-ai.