MediaTek has typically played second fiddle to Qualcomm, at least when it comes to flagship Android phones in the U.S. But that may be set to change if the latest leak about the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 is to be believed. By all appearances, we have a chipset that may be able to compete with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
The news comes via Weibo from leaker Digital Chat Station and reveals that MediaTek is using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm N3E node, which should result in 34% lower power consumption. The Dimensity 9400 is expected to have MT6991 as its model number and keep the same large core structure as the Dimensity 9300.
You’re looking at a Cortex-X5 performance core at 3.4GHz, with some indication that the frequency will increase when the chipset actually launches. There’s also a 3x Cortex-X4 core and 4x Cortex-A720 core. That would be in line with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which is expected to hit 4.0GHz on its primary core, compared to the 3.4GHz the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 tops out at.
The real reason for excitement is that the performance of the Dimensity 9400 has already leaked in Geekbench and AnTuTu benchmarks. On AnTuTu, the 9400 had a 10% higher overall score compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, with a 12% higher CPU score and a 7% higher GPU score. That’s a serious performance upgrade, not just for general day-to-day usage, but also for other tasks. Another leak revealed that the Dimensity 9400 is expected to have an improved neural processing unit (NPU) that can generate Large Language Models and images 20% to 50% faster.
Breaking news out of #MediaTekAnalystDay: the first @MediaTek premium segment smartphone will launch in the US later this year. pic.twitter.com/oG1FgxA5yO
— Nirave 尼拉夫 (@nirave) May 2, 2024
Perhaps most interestingly, there’s also confirmation direct from MediaTek that a “premium segment” Android phone will launch in the U.S. later this year and likely come with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 inside. For context, that’s pretty exceptional in the U.S. market. While MediaTek chips aren’t uncommon in the midrange and budget offerings from Motorola and Samsung, the only high-end chip we’ve seen on an Android device was 2023’s OnePlus Pad, which had a Dimensity 9000.
While it’s still not clear what device this new chip will launch on, speculation includes a new OnePlus foldable based on the Opp Find N3 Flip, which runs a Dimensity 9200, or a new Motorola flagship. A successful launch of a flagship with a MediaTek chipset could finally give Qualcomm some real competition in the top-tier market.
The MediaTek Dimensity 9400 is expected to be available on its first device later this year, but we’ll likely have more leaks before the official launch.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.