The system-on-chip powering the international variants of Samsung’s Galaxy S10-series smartphones will be called the Exynos 9820 and come equipped with a Mali-G76 MP18 GPU, one known industry insider from China said earlier today. The graphics module in question is the first ARM-made GPU manufactured on the 7nm process node from TSMC, as the semiconductor company revealed in late May. While the South Korean original equipment maker is presently said to be working on its very own GPU, it isn’t expected to be able to commercialize it in time for the Galaxy S10 launch in the first half of 2019.
Samsung is hence once again effectively left with no choice in regards to mobile GPUs meant to be implemented into international models of its high-end devices; the Exynos 9810 silicon that powers the Galaxy S9 line and is also expected to be found inside the upcoming Galaxy Note 9 sports another ARM graphics chip which the Mali-G76 is succeeding – the Mali-G72. Both feature 18 cores, though the newer solution will offer higher performance, identical performance with more efficient energy consumption, or a combination of both, depending on the use cases. Samsung has been actively working on the Exynos 9820 since at least early 2018, according to recent reports.
While the company’s chips traditionally yield higher performance in its flagships than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon silicon does, that wasn’t the case this year; even though the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus still boast superior processor performance, their graphics rendering capabilities are inferior to the units powered by the Snapdragon 845 and also have somewhat shorter battery life, according to countless benchmark listings and user reports. Real-world usage differences between the two are still fairly minimal and the same is likely to hold true for the Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855, both of which are likely to be announced in the final quarter of 2018. The Galaxy S10 series itself is expected to launch in early 2019, most likely at Barcelona-based MWC trade show, with recent rumors pointing to the existence of three models with in-display fingerprint sensors and 3D cameras. The most premium handset from Samsung‘s upcoming lineup may also feature up to five cameras, as recently claimed by several industry insiders.