Chromebook makers have been tapping low-cost MediaTek processors for budget models for years. But now MediaTek is making a play for the premium Chrome OS laptop market with the introduction of the MediaTek Kompanio 1380 processor.
The recently announced Acer Chromebook Spin 513 will be one of the first models to feature the new processor when Acer’s convertible Chromebook goes on sale for $600 and up in the second quarter of 2022. But we could see the chip show up in other devices in the coming months.
The processor is a 6nm chip with:
- 4 x ARM Cortex-A78 CPU cores up to 3 GHz
- 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores up to 2 GHz
- ARM Mali-G57 MC5 GPU
- Quad-channel LPDDR4X 2133 MHz memory support
- MediaTek APU 3.0 multi-core artificial intelligence processor
MediaTek says the AI processor can help with AI-assisted camera and voice features as well as battery life optimization, while the chip’s graphics chops include support for hardware-accelerated AV1 video decoding and the ability to drive up to two 4K displays at 60 Hz or one 4K/60Hz display plus two additional 4K/30Hz displays.
Other features include support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5 and a dedicated audio digital signal processor with support for low-power voice-on-wake capabilities for use with voice assistant software.