Chinese chip maker Allwinner is expanding its line of low-power processors for tablets with the Allwinner A33 ARM Cortex-A7 quad-core CPU.
It’s a new chip that’s pin-to-pin compatible with the A23 dual-core CPU. That should make it easy for device makers to upgrade existing designs to the quad-core processor with minimal fuss.
The new chip features Mali-400 MP2 graphics, support for hardware 1080p video processing, and energy consumption improvements so that the new quad-core chip uses less power than Allwinner’s A23 dual-core processors.
Don’t expect to see the A33 in high-end devices though. Allwinner has the A80 octa-core chip for that. This new processor is aimed at entry-level and mid-range devices with screen resolutions up to 1280 x 800 pixels and cameras up to 5 megapixels.
Allwinner expects the first tablets featuring the new quad-core chip to ship in July.
With A53 based SoCs about to arrive, quad A7 is the new dual core, not bad for the low end.