Industry insiders, as reported by DigiTimes, suggest that Nvidia and MediaTek have entered into an agreement to collaborate on producing mobile chipsets featuring GeForce GPUs, potentially available as early as next year.
These chipsets are expected to primarily target Windows on ARM devices.
Presently, MediaTek focuses on manufacturing chipsets for entry-level Chromebooks, commanding a market share of approximately 20% in that domain. By incorporating a robust Nvidia GPU into its flagship chip, MediaTek aims to venture into the high-end laptop segment, expanding its reach and capabilities.
Nvidia possesses its own ARM-based designs, with the Nintendo Switch being a well-known example that operates on a Tegra chip. However, the Tegra chip’s technology is now considered outdated. Another product in Nvidia’s portfolio is the Nvidia Shield, but it too is considered obsolete.
Additionally, the company manufactures ARM boards featuring GeForce GPUs, primarily geared towards machine learning tasks. For instance, the Jetson Orin NX is equipped with a powerful 1,024-core Ampere GPU, complemented by 32 Tensor cores.
At present, Nvidia’s offerings lack official support for Android or ChromeOS, although there is a functioning LineageOS port available. However, this issue could potentially be resolved with the involvement of MediaTek and its expertise.
The integration of Nvidia’s GeForce GPU into MediaTek chips will significantly enhance their gaming capabilities, surpassing the current ARM GPU designs used by MediaTek. Moreover, Nvidia’s renowned AI capabilities will also be incorporated. This collaboration has the potential to emerge as a compelling competitor to Apple’s M-series-based laptops.
It remains uncertain whether the upcoming MediaTek/Nvidia chips will solely target Windows laptops or if there will be a low-power version intended for smartphones as well. Nonetheless, industry players such as Qualcomm and AMD are undoubtedly monitoring this collaboration closely and will probably act accordingly.
