[Update: I have now seen an email exchange with ASUS replying that Rockchip RK3288 will still be in production for 5 years, so GPD claims that manufacturing will stop for RK3288 may be incorrect, or misunderstood
Update 2: Rockchip has now confirmed RK3288 will not be phased out. So I’m guessing there may have been info lost in translation with GPD simply not manufacturing their own RK3288 board anymore]
Rockchip RK3288 32-bit Arm processor was first spotted in a company presentation in the summer of 2013, before being announced – with some confusion (Cortex A12 vs A17) – at CES 2014 in January. The quad core Cortex A17 processor had then its moments of glory with inclusion in products such as Chromebooks (2015), and ASUS Tinker board SBC earlier this year.
Another product based on the processor is GPD XD Android game console, but according to a report on reddit, GPD will soon launch an upgraded version call XD+ powered by Mediatek MT8176 Hexa-core Cortex A72/A53 processor with 4GB RAM, mainly because “Rockchip are phasing out sales of the RK3288”. If true, it means most products based on the chip will soon be phased out or upgraded to another solution. How long each product will keep selling will depend on the stocks held by the manufacturer.
GPD XD+ console preliminary specifications:
- SoC – Mediatek MT8176 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex A72 cores @ 2.1 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores @ 1.7 GHz, and Imagination PowerVR GX6250 GPU (as used in Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 tablet)
- System Memory – 4GB RAM
- Storage – 32GB and up internal storage, micro SD slot
- Display – 5″ 720p capacitive touch display
- Video Output – 1x mini HDMI
- Audio – Dual speaker, via HDMI output, 1x 3.5mm audio jack
- Connectivity – Dual band WiFi, Bluetooth
- USB – 1x micro USB port
- Buttons – Power button, cross button, dual-character buttonA/B/X/Y//×/, L1/L2/L3/R1/R2/R3, joysticks, Start/Select button, Volume +/-, BackAndroid function, Home, Keymapper button
- Sensor – 3-axis gravity sensor
- Battery – TBD
- Power Supply – TBD
- Dimensions – 155 x 89 x 24 mm
- Weight – ~300 grams
The device will run Android 7.x, and as you’ll see from the video below some people already got prototypes, with the device achieving 74,500 points in Antutu 6, and a the following Geekbench scores: Single core: 1375; multi core 3529.
The physical aspect of XD+ looks exactly the same as XD, but performance should be quite better with the Cortex A72 cores and PowerVR GPU in the Mediatek SoC, and some games did run better on the new model in the video above. Some games also only work with 64-bit Arm, so more games will be supported.
GPD XD+ is expected to start selling in Q1 2018 with some resellers mentioning January, while other telling the February-March timeframe is more likely. It will all depend on results of testing of the beta units, and other potential production delays.
I contacted Rockchip to try to get more information about the timeline of RK3288 end-of-life status, but I did not get an answer in time for this article. I’ll update it if I get an answer.
Via Liliputing
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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