Samsung Galaxy S10 Release Date, Specs, Features: Next Flagship May Have Dedicated NPU

Samsung seems to be developing a processor with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU), and the Samsung Galaxy S10 may be the first flagship smartphone to utilize it.

According to noted tipster Ice universe, the LinkedIn profile of an ex-Samsung hardware design engineer reportedly shows that the company has been working on its second-generation NPU architecture since Dec. 2017. However, the unnamed former employee left the company in Match 2018 so not much is known about the status of the project.

Still, the engineers should have plenty of time to finish the project since they began developing it late last year. That’s why many have speculated that it should be ready in time for the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S10. The dedicated NPU will likely be onboard Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 9820 processor if it is done.

Of course, there’s a chance that Samsung may not include it in the Samsung Galaxy S10 if they are not happy with it. It should be noted that the company never used its first-generation NPU architecture in its current smartphones. Why is that? Well, they probably didn’t like it.

“Unsurprisingly, it seems Samsung already developed its own NPU prior to beginning work on the second-generation version. However, this never made an appearance inside the company’s smartphones which would suggest it wasn’t happy with the end result. Obviously, there is no guarantee that a similar scenario will not occur with the second-generation NPU,” Joshua Swingle said in his report for Phone Arena.

But Swingle did add that the company may end up incorporating their second-generation NPU architecture on the Samsung Galaxy S10 because they don’t want rivals like Huawei to get too far ahead in terms of technology.

“This time around, the company will face increased pressure to integrate one, which means its highly unlikely to skip the feature again,” Swingle noted.