The U.S. might be putting a stranglehold on Chinese companies from leveraging the newest manufacturing processes from TSMC, but according to the latest rumor, these export controls have yet to affect Xiaomi, which is supposedly on track to launch its first in-house chipset later this year. However, while we reported last year that the company was scheduled to unveil its custom 3nm SoC in 2025, we were disappointed to learn just the specifications of this version that will utilize TSMC’s 4nm ‘N4P’ process. According to more details, this silicon will not sport any homegrown cores like Qualcomm has adopted for the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
New custom chipset from Xiaomi is also said to feature an Imagination Technologies graphics chip called the IMG DXT 72-2304
A Weibo post from Fixed Focus Digital was posted by @Jukanlosreve on X, providing details on Xiaomi’s upcoming chipset. Even though the more advanced 3nm silicon had successfully entered the tape-out stage, it appears that we will get to see the 4nm version first. Like Qualcomm’s previous-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Xiaomi’s unnamed SoC will share the same lithography, with its CPU cluster said to sport the ‘1 + 3 + 4’ configuration. However, based on the latest information, the custom solution will not feature any in-house cores but instead rely on current ARM designs.
The fastest core will be the Cortex-X925, running at 3.20GHz, followed by four Cortex-A725 cores operating at 2.60GHz, with the remaining low-power Cortex-A520 said to be clocked at 2.00GHz. Paired with this cluster is an Imagination Technologies IMG DXT 72-2304 GPU functioning at 1.30GHz, which, the tipster claims, will be faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s Adreno 740 graphics processor. Sadly, no launch timeline was mentioned, but according to an earlier rumor, we expect Xiaomi to officially announce it in the first half of this year, with its performance equivalent to Qualcomm’s older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Our acquaintance @faridofanani96 has stated on X that Fixed Focus Digital makes blind guesses like these, suggesting that we should treat this information with a pinch of salt. Then again, Xiaomi’s name and progress in revitalizing its chip-manufacturing ambitions have been frequently reported in a multitude of reports, so we will keep our fingers crossed for more updates. We will also learn if the U.S. aims to halt the company’s goals by preventing TSMC from conducting its business.
