MediaTek has introduced the Dimensity 9600M alongside the Dimensity 9600 Pro.
The new chip will power the standard Vivo X500, while the Pro and Pro Max models use the more powerful 9600 Pro.
The 9600M is positioned as the more affordable option in the new flagship lineup.
It features an all-large-core CPU, a flagship GPU with neural network rendering, and a dual NPU setup.
MediaTek markets the chip as built on Dimensity 9600 Pro platform technologies, inheriting that chip's graphics architecture.
However, a closer look at the spec sheets reveals a different story.
Hardware Closely Mirrors Dimensity 9500
The Dimensity 9600M is essentially the Dimensity 9500 with a few small changes.
It uses the same TSMC 3nm N3P process, and its performance is on par with last year's chip.
The CPU configuration includes one C1-Ultra core at 4.21GHz with 2MB of L2 cache, three C1-Premium cores at 3.5GHz with 1MB of L2 cache each, and four C1-Pro cores at 2.7GHz with 512KB each.
There is also 16MB of L3 cache and 10MB of system cache, matching the Dimensity 9500 exactly.
The GPU is the same Arm Mali-G1 Ultra MC12 on both chips.
NPU duties fall to the same APU 990, including the compute-in-memory efficiency core introduced with the 9500.
Memory and storage are unchanged as well, with LPDDR5X at 10667MHz and 4-lane UFS 4.1.
Camera hardware also tells the same story.
Both chips support up to a 320MP sensor and video capture at 8K60, 4K120 with EIS, and 4K60 cinematic, matching the Imagiq-based imaging pipeline from the 9500.
What Is Actually New
There are still a few changes on the Dimensity 9600M.
MediaTek has upgraded its Dimensity Scheduling Engine to version 3.0, compared with the second-generation version on the Dimensity 9500.
The newer scheduler should better manage CPU, GPU, and memory resources. Gaming is another area where MediaTek is highlighting an improvement.
The 9600M can reach frame rates of up to 185fps with neural network rendering.
However, the actual frame interpolation hardware remains the same, still using MediaTek's MRFC 3.0.
The bigger changes come on the software side.
The NPU now supports Gemini Nano 4 and Qwen 3.5 Omni 4B, while a new camera agent can provide photography suggestions based on what you're shooting.
So while MediaTek gives the Dimensity 9600M a place in its newer 9600 series, the underlying hardware is still very close to the Dimensity 9500.
The main changes are the newer scheduling system, small clock-speed increases, and some added AI features rather than a major hardware upgrade.
