MediaTek’s Latest Chip Is Way Too Powerful for ChromeOS — Or Is It?

Summary: MediaTek has just announced its new “ultra” processor that is designed specifically for Chromebooks – the Kompanio Ultra. This chipset uses an ARM Cortex-X925 core which is clocked at up to 3.62GHz. MediaTek has not yet announced which brands will use this chipset. 

MediaTek, today is announcing a new chipset for Chromebooks, the Kompanio Ultra. This chipset is very similar to the already successful Dimensity 9400 that the company launched last year, and powers devices like the OPPO Find X8 and vivo X200 Pro.

The Kompanio Ultra was manufactured on a 3nm process, using an all-big-core CPU architecture, with ARM Cortex-X925 processor clocked at up to 3.62GHz. MediaTek says that this new chipset is able to deliver “industry-leading single and multithreaded performance”. So it’ll be able to handle anything that Chrome OS can throw at it, with ease.

Google’s VP and GM of ChromeOS and Google for Education, John Solomon said “we’re excited for the next step in our MediaTek partnership. The Kompanio Ultra will open up new avenues for on-device AI features on Chromebook Plus devices, while delivering awesome power efficiency for those crucial extra hours while on the go.”

MediaTek’s Kompanio Ultra offers support for up two external 4K displays

The Kompanio Ultra is truly powerful; in fact, it’s powerful enough to support two external 4K displays, as well as offering advanced Hi-Fi audio processing and low-latency connectivity. This chip also supports WiFi 7, giving you superior range for reliability.

The Kompanio Ultra was designed specifically for Chromebooks, and since it does not support DirectX, it can’t be used for a Windows laptop. MediaTek also told us in our briefing this week that it has no plans to work on Windows laptops right now, essentially leaving that to Qualcomm. On the flip side, Qualcomm has not made a chipset for Chromebooks since 2021, as it seems they are more focused on Windows these days.

With the Kompanio Ultra sporting 1x ARM Cortex-X925, 3x ARM Cortex-X4, and 4x ARM Cortex-A720 cores, it’s clear that this is going to be one of the more powerful chipsets being used in a Chromebook. This begs the question: Could Google be working on a “Chromebook Ultra” brand? After all, we already have Chromebook Plus, which only requires an Intel Core i3 or higher or an AMD Ryzen 7000 or higher. And the Kompanio Ultra is far and away much more powerful than those processors.