ARM has launched a higher performance chip for laptops that also delivers more efficient power management.
The quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 MP4 hard macro chip is designed to run at 2GHz and is being offered to manufacturers of laptops and other devices as a simpler “system-on-a-chip” solution.
ARM usually allows manufacturers to modify its chip designs, but ARM says the Cortex-A15 MP4 allows them to integrate a high-end processing system with few, if any modifications, using the chip’s hard macro optimisation.
“An ARM hard macro implementation is an ideal, cost-effective solution for developers,” said Jim Nicholas, ARM vice president of processor marketing.
The new chip is also said to be more server-friendly than ARM’s established Cortex-A9 technology, with features including low-power sleep mode, support for error detection, data recovery and hardware virtualisation.
The 28nm “low power leakage” chip is being presented at this week’s Cool Chips conference in Yokohama.
As well as being a major player in the smartphone market, ARM is dominant in the tablet market. Intel however is looking to aim one of its own chips at the new Windows 8-based tablet market.