Micron Technology recently announced that it has begun providing partners with validation samples of the world's first low-power LPDDR5X memory product based on 1γ (1-gamma) process. Designed for AI application acceleration in flagship smartphones, it delivers the industry's highest LPDDR5X speed of 10.7 Gbps and up to 20% lower power consumption, giving users a smoother mobile experience and longer battery life, even when performing data-intensive tasks such as AI translation or image generation.
To meet the needs of the next generation of smartphones for compact designs, Micron has made another breakthrough in packaging technology, introducing the industry's thinnest LPDDR5X package with a thickness of only 0.61 mm, which is 6% thinner than the competition and 14% lower than the previous generation. Such a small size provides more space for the design of folding screens or ultra-thin mobile phones.
Mark Montierth, vice president and general manager of Micron's Mobile & Client Business Unit, said, "LPDDR5X memory based on the 1γ process is a game-changer for the mobile industry. Not only does it deliver ultra-fast speeds and superior power efficiency, but it also lays the foundation for a new form factor in the industry's thinnest package, demonstrating our commitment to advancing the mobile ecosystem and delivering a superior user experience."
Figure: Micron launched the world's first 1γ process LPDDR5X memory, helping the performance of AI flagship phones leap forward
In terms of performance, the 10.7 Gbps bandwidth is a significant improvement over the 7.5 Gbps of the previous generation of 1-beta processes. Micron evaluated the response speed of the large language model Llama 2 on mobile, and the results showed that:
Location-based restaurant recommendations are about 30% more responsive;
Translate English voice queries into Spanish text in real time faster by more than 50%;
Up to 25% faster response times to car purchase recommendations based on vehicle model, price, and in-car entertainment/safety features.
This is the first time Micron has adopted EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) technology in mobile memory products, providing customers with more advanced performance and energy efficiency. The 1γ process DRAM platform not only inherits Micron's innovations in CMOS processes such as high-K metal gates, but also increases transistor density and bit capacity through EUV. This technology has already been used in 1γ DDR5 data center and client memory products, which will be sampled starting in February 2024.
As AI computing increasingly shifts to device-side execution, the importance of low-power chips becomes more and more prominent. Devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops need to minimize energy consumption while maintaining performance. Micron's new LPDDR5X delivers up to 20% power savings while meeting the long-running needs of AI gaming, video and smart applications. In addition, with the continuous growth of high-performance and low-power computing driven by AI technology, such LPDDR5X products are also expected to be gradually introduced in data centers, smart cars, and AI PCs.
At present, Micron has provided samples of 16GB LPDDR5X based on the 1γ process to some customers, and plans to launch a complete product portfolio covering 8GB to 32GB in the flagship mobile phone market in 2026.
