MediaTek Unveils New High-End Chip for Chromebooks, the Kompanio Ultra 910. With enhanced power, connectivity, and a focus on AI, it aims to transform these typically modest devices into more serious contenders… but still only under ChromeOS.
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A Chip Designed for Enhanced Chromebooks
The Kompanio Ultra 910 marks the debut of MediaTek’s new “Ultra” series. The goal? To provide a chip that competes with the high-end market standards, while still being used in ChromeOS machines. Specifically, this SoC is built on an “all big cores” architecture featuring eight high-performance cores: a Cortex-X925 clocking up to 3.62 GHz, three Cortex-X4, and four Cortex-A720. There are no low-power cores here; MediaTek is betting everything on high performance.
In terms of performance, the company claims up to 18% improvement in single-core and up to 40% in multi-core performance compared to its rivals. As usual, these figures should be taken with a grain of salt in the absence of independent testing. However, on paper, the chip appears well-equipped to handle web apps, Android, and Google services smoothly.
Focusing on Artificial Intelligence
What sets the Kompanio Ultra 910 apart from previous models is its NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which is rated at 50 TOPS. The aim is to enhance the support for local AI functions, especially with Google Gemini, which is gradually replacing Google Assistant on newer Chromebooks.
MediaTek’s goal is clear: to align with the trend of “AI PCs,” computers that come with integrated AI functions in the system. Even though, for now, this is largely limited to certain applications such as automatic email summarization, simple image generation, or writing assistance in Google Docs.
Enhanced Connectivity and Display
The Kompanio Ultra 910 supports LPDDR5X memory up to 8533 MHz, UFS 4.0 storage, and can drive two external 4K displays. For connectivity, it includes Wi-Fi 7 (up to 7.3 Gbps) and Bluetooth 6.0. While not revolutionary, these features are sufficient for smooth daily usage, including multitasking.
MediaTek also promises up to 20 hours of battery life on a 60 Wh battery, which seems plausible given the 3 nm architecture used, which is supposed to be more energy-efficient.
Exclusively for ChromeOS, for Now
Despite its features being comparable to some Qualcomm chips for Windows ARM PCs, the Kompanio Ultra 910 is currently exclusive to Chromebooks. There’s no planned compatibility with Windows due to the lack of an agreement with Microsoft. However, given the performance it delivers, it’s not out of the question that MediaTek might explore entering this market in the medium term. Meanwhile, the first Chromebooks equipped with this chip are expected in the coming months.