Inside the Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU: Delivering desktop-class mobile gameplay with AI-native graphics - Arm Newsroom

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September 8, 2026

Inside the Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU: Delivering desktop-class mobile gameplay with AI-native graphics

Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX brings dedicated neural accelerators, a new execution engine and a third-generation ray tracing unit to help developers create desktop-class gaming experiences on mobile devices.

By Deyan Lazarov, Senior Product Manager, Arm

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Demands from mobile users continue to grow. They want richer visuals, smoother frame rates, and increasingly immersive experiences. For developers the challenge is complex, as they aim to meet these expectations while staying within the strict power, thermal, and bandwidth limits of mobile devices.
Traditional rendering can deliver high image quality, but reaching desktop-class visual fidelity within mobile constraints demands greater efficiency. Neural graphics offers another path, using AI to reconstruct detail, generate intermediate frames, and refine images while reducing GPU demands and overall system workload.
However, bringing neural graphics into mainstream mobile experiences requires deep integration across the GPU architecture and developer ecosystem. With more than 14 billion Mali GPUs shipped to date, Arm has the scale and experience to make these capabilities accessible across the next generation of mobile devices.
That shift is at the heart of the Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU. As the first AI-native Mali GPU, it integrates neural acceleration directly into the graphics pipeline, helping developers deliver richer, more responsive visual experiences within the mobile power envelope and bring neural graphics into production faster.
An AI-native GPU for neural graphics
Mali G2-Ultra NX is built for neural graphics from the ground up, with neural accelerators tightly integrated into the shader cores, allowing neural graphics workloads to run alongside graphics and compute workloads. The tight integration reuses the GPU memory system, coherent caches, and control structures, helping reduce data movement and improve efficiency across the pipeline.
Mali G2-Ultra NX combines dedicated neural acceleration, a new execution engine and third-generation ray tracing to enable AI-native graphics on mobile.
Three neural technologies that are part of Mali G2-Ultra NX demonstrate what this enables:

Neural Super Sampling (NSS) reconstructs higher-resolution images from lower-resolution renders, reducing the amount of conventional rendering work needed to produce a high-quality final image.
Neural Frame Rate Upscaling (NFRU) generates intermediate frames to increase frame rates and deliver smoother gameplay.
Neural Super Sampling and Denoising (NSSD) combines neural upscaling with denoising to improve image quality in demanding ray-traced scenes with complex lighting and shadows.

NSS reconstructs higher-resolution images from lower-resolution inputs, combining temporal data and integrated anti-aliasing to improve image quality efficiently on mobile.
NFRU uses motion, depth and rendered-frame data to generate high-quality intermediate frames for smoother mobile gameplay.
Neural Dawn, developed by Arm and Sumo Digital, showcases how developers can integrate NFRU and NSSD into a production game pipeline, delivering up to 4x higher performance efficiency and up to 70 percent lower external memory traffic compared with native rendering. These gains can make advanced techniques such as Unreal Engine MegaLights practical on mobile devices.

Explaining how NFRU and NSSD work together in the Neural Dawn game to improve mobile graphics.
By combining traditional rendering and neural graphics, developers can preserve image quality while reducing GPU and system-level workloads. For players, that means sharper images, smoother frame rates, richer scenes, and more responsive gameplay within the constraints of a mobile device.
A new execution engine increases the graphics budget
Alongside neural acceleration, Mali G2-Ultra NX introduces a new execution engine – the biggest Mali GPU instruction set architecture upgrade in seven generations – which is designed to handle increasingly complex graphics workloads while improving performance. It provides up to 2x more registers per wrap, helping the GPU handle increasingly demanding scenes more efficiently. This gives developers greater headroom for richer visuals and more complex effects, while maintaining consistent frame rates.
Mali G2-Ultra NX integrates dedicated neural acceleration directly within the shader core, sharing GPU memory and control structures to improve efficiency for neural graphics workloads.
The architectural improvements translate into up to 24 percent higher benchmark performance and 14 percent higher non-AI gaming performance compared with the previous generation. Combining the architectural improvements with neural acceleration through NFRU supports longer mobile gaming sessions at up to 120 FPS for smoother, more responsive gameplay.
A side-by-side comparison showing how the higher frame rate with NFRU improves visual smoothness on Mali G2-Ultra NX.
Third-generation ray tracing unit delivers richer lighting and shadows more efficiently
Mali G2-Ultra NX introduces Arm’s third generation of hardware ray tracing, supporting more complex lighting, shadows, reflections and geometry on mobile devices. The new GPU architecture delivers up to 13 percent lower DRAM traffic on leading ray tracing benchmarks, reducing memory pressure as scene complexity increases.
Meanwhile, hardware support for Opacity Micromaps helps handle intricate transparent geometry more efficiently,  enabling richer foliage, more detailed fabrics, layered surfaces, and other complex scene elements on mobile devices. In one Arm demo, using Opacity Micromaps increased frame rates by 30 percent and reduced the ray tracing workload by up to 70 percent, demonstrating how the technology can make complex geometry more practical on mobile.
Real-time ray-traced shadows enabled by Opacity Micromaps to create a vivid environment in Moku’s Central Garden while maintaining performance.
Neural graphics complement these advances in ray tracing. Combining new ray tracing hardware with neural technologies, such as NFRU, helps deliver richer visual detail more efficiently within mobile rendering constraints.
Giving developers a practical path to bring neural graphics to production faster
However, new graphics hardware only delivers value when developers can access it through familiar tools and workflows. Arm started preparing the software ecosystem two years before Mali G2-Ultra NX with Arm Neural Technology and an open development kit for neural graphics. These gave content developers, tools developers, and game engine providers early access to neural techniques, so they could begin integrating them into existing workflows before the hardware arrived.

Tencent Games and Unity China explain how they are bringing neural graphics into familiar development workflows and helping move AI-native mobile graphics from technology to production.
Today, the Arm Neural Graphics Development Kit provides the software and tools needed to move that work toward production across established graphics APIs, game engines, and custom workflows. The developer stack includes NSS and NFRU, along with machine learning extensions for Vulkan and plug-ins for leading game engines, including Unreal Engine. An SDK supports custom-engine integration, while profiling, graphics optimization, training, and model-optimization tools help developers evaluate and fine-tune neural graphics workloads.
All these resources provide a path from experimentation to production without requiring studios to build bespoke research infrastructure or change the development workflows they already use.
As Keli Zhou, Engine Lead for Where Winds Meet, says, “Through our collaboration with Arm, we are integrating Arm Neural Technology into the Messiah Engine and bringing it into real-world game development. Where Winds Meet will be among the first games to bring Arm Neural Technology to players, marking an important step from engine-level integration to real-world deployment. Together, we are paving the way for broader developer adoption of neural graphics across the gaming ecosystem.” 
The AI-native graphics foundation for Arm CSS for Mobile 2
Advanced mobile graphics require optimization across the entire system, not just the GPU. Within Arm CSS for Mobile 2, Mali G2-Ultra NX brings AI-native graphics together with compute, memory, software and implementation optimizations to help silicon partners manage increasingly demanding workloads within mobile power and thermal constraints.
Combined with an ecosystem ready to put these capabilities into production, this raises the ceiling for mobile graphics, enabling richer visuals, and smoother experiences delivered to billions of mobile devices.

Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX
Advancing mobile graphics by integrating neural accelerators directly into the graphics pipeline.

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By Deyan Lazarov, Senior Product Manager, Arm

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The Arm Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU is designed to deliver desktop-class mobile gameplay by integrating dedicated neural accelerators, a novel execution engine, and a third-generation ray tracing unit, facilitating AI-native graphics on mobile devices. This development addresses the growing demands from mobile users for richer visuals and smoother frame rates while adhering to strict power, thermal, and bandwidth constraints of mobile hardware. To achieve this balance, the architecture leverages neural graphics, which employs artificial intelligence techniques to reconstruct detail, generate intermediate frames, and refine images, thereby reducing overall GPU demands and system workload compared to traditional rendering methods.

The Mali G2-Ultra NX is built for neural graphics from its foundation, incorporating neural accelerators directly within the shader cores. This tight integration reuses the GPU memory system, coherent caches, and control structures, enhancing efficiency by minimizing data movement across the pipeline. The hardware features include Neural Super Sampling (NSS), which reconstructs higher-resolution images from lower-resolution renders using temporal data and integrated anti-aliasing; Neural Frame Rate Upscaling (NFRU), which generates intermediate frames based on motion, depth, and rendered-frame data to improve smoothness; and Neural Super Sampling and Denoising (NSSD), which combines upscaling with denoising to enhance image quality in complex ray-traced scenes.

These neural technologies are demonstrated in pipelines like Neural Dawn, which showcases the potential for increased efficiency; specifically, combining these methods allows developers to achieve up to four times higher performance efficiency and reduce external memory traffic by up to seventy percent compared to native rendering. This efficiency gain makes advanced techniques, such as Unreal Engine MegaLights, more practical on mobile devices. Alongside neural acceleration, the introduction of a new execution engine marks the largest Mali GPU instruction set architecture upgrade in seven generations, designed to handle increasingly complex workloads efficiently by providing up to two times more registers per wrap. These architectural improvements translate into substantial performance gains, yielding up to twenty-four percent higher benchmark performance and fourteen percent higher non-AI gaming performance over the previous generation. Combined with NFRU, this architecture supports smoother gameplay at speeds up to one hundred twenty frames per second.

The hardware also features a third-generation ray tracing unit, which enables more efficient rendering of complex lighting, shadows, reflections, and geometry on mobile. Furthermore, hardware support for Opacity Micromaps allows for the efficient handling of intricate transparent geometry, enabling richer foliage and detailed surfaces. In demonstrations using this technology, Opacity Micromaps increased frame rates by thirty percent while reducing the ray tracing workload by up to seventy percent, making complex geometry more feasible in mobile environments. Neural graphics work synergistically with these advances, utilizing new ray tracing hardware and neural techniques to deliver richer visual detail efficiently within mobile rendering limitations.

To facilitate the practical adoption of these capabilities, Arm established a comprehensive software ecosystem ahead of the hardware release through Arm Neural Technology and an open development kit for neural graphics. This provided developers and game engine providers early access to techniques like NSS and NFRU, alongside machine learning extensions for Vulkan and plug-ins for engines like Unreal Engine. This SDK offers tools for profiling, optimization, training, and model-optimization, providing a direct path from experimentation to production without requiring studios to build proprietary research infrastructure. Through collaborations, developers are integrating these technologies into existing workflows, moving toward broader adoption of neural graphics across the gaming ecosystem.

Ultimately, the Mali G2-Ultra NX integrates AI-native graphics with compute, memory, software, and implementation optimizations within the framework of Arm CSS for Mobile 2, enabling silicon partners to manage highly demanding workloads effectively under mobile power and thermal limitations. This integrated approach raises the ceiling for mobile graphics, allowing for richer visuals and smoother experiences for billions of mobile devices.