What Is Arm Cortex?

Arm Cortex is the family name for the processor core designs that Arm develops and licenses. Arm does not manufacture chips. Companies such as NXP, Rockchip, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Qualcomm and NVIDIA license a Cortex core, combine it with their own memory controllers, graphics, peripherals and accelerators, and sell the result as a system on chip or microcontroller.

It helps to separate two words that are often mixed up. Arm is the instruction set architecture, the rules that software is compiled for, such as Armv8-A or Armv9-A. Cortex is a specific implementation of that architecture: a core design with its own pipeline, caches and performance. A Cortex-A55 and a Cortex-A76 both run Armv8.2-A software, but the A76 is a larger, faster core.

Our guide to Arm architecture in embedded and industrial systems covers licensing, power efficiency and software support. This page focuses on the Cortex cores themselves.

Arm groups Cortex cores into profiles, each designed for a different job.

Within a profile, a higher number usually means a newer or larger core, but the number does not compare across profiles: a Cortex-M7 is not a slower Cortex-A7. A few letters add meaning.

F, as in Cortex-M4F or Cortex-R5F, is used by chipmakers to show that the optional floating-point hardware (FPU) is fitted. AE, as in Cortex-A78AE, stands for Automotive Enhanced: the core adds a split-lock mode, where pairs of cores can run in lockstep to check each other for functional safety work. A plus sign, as in Cortex-M0+, marks an improved version of an earlier core.

Each core also implements a specific architecture version. Cortex-M0+ uses Armv6-M, Cortex-M4 and M7 use Armv7E-M, and Cortex-M33 and M55 use Armv8-M, which adds TrustZone security to microcontrollers. On the application side, Cortex-A53 uses Armv8-A, Cortex-A55, A76 and A78 use Armv8.2-A, and cores such as Cortex-A510 and A720 use Armv9-A.

Most industrial Arm chips mix profiles, so one device can run Linux on its Cortex-A cores while a Cortex-M or Cortex-R core handles a time-critical loop on its own. The table shows common examples.

You can see these chips in our range: NXP i.MX 8M boards, Rockchip RK3588 boards and the wider Arm SBCs category. Qualcomm’s parts use Kryo cores that are based on Cortex designs, so their spec sheets name Kryo rather than Cortex.

When you compare boards, look past the core count. Two quad-core chips can differ widely: four Cortex-A76 cores deliver far more single-thread performance than four Cortex-A55 cores, while the A55 uses less power and runs cooler in a sealed enclosure. Check whether the chip has a Cortex-M or Cortex-R core for real-time work, whether the board maker’s software supports it, and how long the chip maker commits to supply. NXP and TI publish long-term supply programs for many of their industrial parts, which matters for products that will be built for a decade.

Arm has other core families alongside the three profiles. Cortex-X cores are the highest-performance client cores, used in high-end phones and laptop chips. Neoverse cores are aimed at servers, networking and high-end edge computers: Jetson Thor uses Neoverse V3AE cores rather than a Cortex design, and the Jetson Orin family uses Cortex-A78AE.

Arm has also started moving its newest client cores to new platform names, so future phone and laptop chips may not use the Cortex label. The cores in today’s industrial chips are still sold as Cortex, and long-life industrial parts tend to use proven cores for many years after launch.

We supply Arm SBCs and systems with the operating system, board support package and your application image fitted as standard.