ARM Cortex-A17 processor promises 60% more performance for sub-£150 smartphones and tablets

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ARM, the Cambridge-based manufacturer of mobile processors for smartphones and tablets, has announced a new chip it promises will provide more than double the performance of its previous mid-range CPU. The Cortex-A17 looks set to appear in sub-£150 mid-range smartphones from the second half of 2015, with chip vendors VIA, Realtek and MediaTek already signed up to use the new design. The Cortex-A17 will replace the ageing Cortex-A9, which is approaching its sixth birthday. The scaleable design can support up to four cores running at speeds of 2GHz and beyond, and can also be paired with other, low-power ARM cores in a big.LITTLE configuration – much like the US version of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3, which uses an Exynos 5 octa processor built on an ARM reference design. It will reportedly provide up to 60% greater performance than a Cortex-A9 chip, but use 20% less power.

Although the smartphone world is increasingly looking towards 64-bit processing, spearheaded by Apple’s iPhone 5s, the Cortex-A17 is a 32-bit chip. ARM has the 64-bit Cortex-A57 and A53 cores already, but the company doesn’t expect demand for 64-bit processors in mid-range devices just yet. The new chip will eventually find its way into a range of mid-range smartphones and tablets, Smart TVs and set-top boxes, and in-car entertainment systems. ARM predicts various combinations of components using its big.LITTLE multi-core layout for performance and power saving in equal measure; quad-core Cortex-A17 chips running at 2GHz+ can be paired with quad-core Cortex-A7 CPUs, while more entry-level devices could use a dual-core A17 running between 1.5GHz and 2GHz paired with a dual-core A7. Finally, the chip will also be available by itself, running between 1GHz and 2GHz depending on the manufacturer.

The Cortex-A17 will initially be manufactured on a 28nm process, but could see a reduction to 20nm in 2016.

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Tom Morgan

Tom started writing about technology right after graduating from University, but has been a games and gadget fan for as long as he can remember. Beyond photography, music and home entertainment, he's also the first port of call for all reviews content on Expert Reviews.

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ARM Cortex-A17 processor promises 60% more performance for sub-£150 smartphones and tablets

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