MediaTek 5G SoC to Launch on November 26, First Devices Due in Q1 2020: Report

Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company MediaTek has been trying to compete head on with ace chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Huawei and it now is going to unveil its 5G chipset at a company event on November 26, media reports said. The semiconductor firm was earlier focused on gaming and hence introduced a gaming-focus chip -- the MediaTek G90 in the middle of this year.

"The chipset featured in the promo materials has the MT6885Z designation. Cross-referencing that with an earlier leak, we can assume this is the upcoming flagship-grade 7nm silicon, MediaTek is gearing-up for partners like Oppo and Vivo," the GSMArena reported on Saturday.

Some of the suggested specifications for the 7nm FinFET process MT6885 should thus include Cortex-A77 CPU and Mali-G77 GPU cores as well as sub-6GHz frequency support, it said. It also includes the Helio M70 5G modem. Other specifications tipped include support for up to 80-megapixel cameras, as well as 4K 60fps video recording.

GSMArena goes on to cite a report by Chinese publication MyDrivers from August that claims mass production of the MediaTek 5G SoC will begin in Q1 2020, which is also roughly when the first devices with the MediaTek 5G SoC can be expected. The Helio M70 modem is also expected to be included in an SoC meant for mid-range handsets, said to be called the MT6873 - powered by Cortex-A76 cores. The MT6873 will reportedly go into mass production in Q2 2020.