MediaTek announces Kompanio 540 chip for entry-level Chromebooks

Even though MediaTek is yet to release its rumoured Windows-on-Arm chip, it continues to make chips for low-power laptops. It has now announced the Kompanio 540 for entry-level Chromebooks, succeeding the previously announced Kompanio 528/520.

The Kompanio 540 keeps the Kompanio 520's 2+6 layout but uses two Cortex-A78 cores (2.6 GHz) and six Cortex-A55 cores (2.0 GHz). OEMs can pair it with LPDDR5-6400 or LPDDR4x-4266 RAM and UFS 3.1 or eMMC 5.1 storage. Similarly, peripherals using the PCIe 2.0, USB 2.0, and USB 3.2 Gen2 standards are also supported. For graphics, it uses an Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU that can output video at up to 4K 60 FPS to a single display or 2.5K through two video feeds.

Other Kompanio 540 specs include Bluetooth 6, Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi 7, making it one of the first chips to bring these connectivity features to the entry-level segment. MediaTek claims laptops powered by the Kompanio offer up to 35% more battery life compared to those using the Kompanio 520. Laptops powered by a chip are expected to hit shelves sometime in January 2026.