On Friday, SK Hynix said it had started mass production of 24 GB LPDDR5X memory stacks that can be used for ultra-high-end smartphones and PCs. The company's LPDDR5X-8500 devices combine ultra-high-performance with high density, thus enabling fast systems with sufficient memory capacity. SK Hynix says such modules could be used well beyond smartphones, PCs, and even servers.

SK Hynix's 24 GB LPDDR5X package features an 8500 MT/s data transfer rate and a wide 64-bit interface, thus offering a peak bandwidth of 68 GB/s in the ultra-low voltage range of 1.01 to 1.12V. From a typical PC perspective, this is comparable to bandwidth provided by a dual-channel DDR5-4800 memory subsystem (76.8 GB/s), but at considerably lower power and an orders of magnitude smaller footprint.

An interesting wrinkle of the SK Hynix's announcement is that the company started to supply these 24 GB LPDDR5X modules well before the announcement as the devices are already used in Oppo's Oneplus Ace 2 Pro smartphone launched on August 10, 2023.

Oppo is not the only maker of high-end Android smartphones out there, so I would expect more companies to follow suit in the coming months as they roll out handsets based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system-on-chip.

But SK Hynix envisions its LPDDR5X devices to be used beyond smartphones, so think PCs. Apple was the first company to use LPDDR for desktops and laptops. Still, now that PC SoCs from AMD and Intel support LPDDR5X expect other leading makers of notebooks to adopt LPDDR5X in general and SK Hynix's 24 GB packages in particular.

Meanwhile, 64-bit LPDDR5X-8500 devices look particularly compelling for the automotive industry, combining performance, capacity, and a very compact form factor. Given the fact that modern infotainment systems require high memory bandwidth, such memory devices will be pretty beneficial. SK Hynix says these memory stacks could be used for servers and even high-performance computing (HPC) applications.

"Along with a faster advancement in broader IT industry, our LPDDR products will be able to support a growing list of applications such as PC, server, high-performance computing (HPC) and automotive vehicles," said Myoungsoo Park, Vice President and Head of DRAM Marketing at SK Hynix. "The company will cement our leadership in the premium memory market by providing the highest performance products that meet customers' needs."

Source: SK Hynix