While Qualcomm is expected to use its in-house Oryon CPU for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 launching later this year, Arm's Cortex-X5 will likely launch alongside the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 or Exynos 2500. This CPU core is called The Blackhawk code and is expected to deliver impressive performance generation after generation. Samsung has now announced that Arm's future Cortex-X CPU cores will use Samsung Foundry's 2 nm GAAFET node. The company claims it will “revolutionize” the future of AI on mobile devices.
A post said Samsung confirmed both companies are working on a “breakthrough AI chipset solution” for general AI use cases. It will leverage Samsung's 2nm GAAFET SF2 node to deliver "additional performance and efficiency improvements" in Arm's CPUs. However, that information does not reveal whether the Cortex-X CPU core in question is Cortex-X5 or Cortex-X6. There's a good chance it's Cortex-X6 as the SF2 is expected to enter mass production in 2025. This development is especially interesting because Arm announced that it is partnering with Intel at the same time to produce low-power chipsets on the 18A process.
Arm's upcoming Cortex-X5 will need to iron out several issues before launching later this year. Tipster Tech Reve claims the Cortex-X5 is having power consumption issues at higher frequencies. OEMs may have to control clocks or risk thermal throttling, which plagues last-gen Exynos SoCs and even Dimensity to a certain extent.