ARM has unveiled its newest Cortex A73 CPU architecture and the Mali G71 graphics processing unit. ARM said that these new chips were developed using new high-end designs which the company claims will power the next-generation of smartphones and tablets. ARM added that the chips are designed to handle virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.

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According to Android Police, the new Cortex A73, with clock speeds of up to 2.8GHz, is 30 percent more powerful than its predecessor. ARM said that the while the speed increase comes directly from the bumped up clock speed, some of it can also be attributed to major architectural improvements. The new chip is also optimized for mobile use, hence the 30 percent increase in power efficiency.

The new ARM Cortex A73 will replace the Cortex A72, which in turn replaced the Cortex A57. Just like the two chipsets the preceded it, the Cortex A73 is a high-end 64-bit CPU. It can also be paired with the less powerful yet highly efficient Cortex A53 or A35 chipsets.

ARM is aiming to release a Cortex A73 manufactured using the new 10nm process. However, this might be part of the company's long-term plan for the chipset. There are reports that the first batches of the A73 will be manufactured using the older 14nm and 16nm processes.

While most manufacturers aim for improvements in performance and power efficiency when designing a new processor. ARM is setting a new goal for the Cortex A73, and that is sustained processor performance. Although ARM is yet to elaborate on this new goal, some tech analysts are convinced that this is important especially in virtual reality and augmented reality applications.

As for the Mali G71, it is based on a new architecture ARM is calling Bifrost. The company said that the new architecture will be integrated to lower-end GPUs in the future, and it will eventually replace the older Midgard architecture.

According to Ars Technica, system-on-chips with the new Cortex A73 and Mali G71 will enter production later this year. ARM said that devices running on this SOC would hit the market as early as 2017.

TagsArm, ARM chips, Cortex, ARM Cortex A73, cortex a73, Mali, ARM Mali, Mali G71, Mali GPU