u/Less-Difference1576

Hey guys,

There is a discussion thread open on GitHub regarding PanVK work specifically for the Mali-G720:

PanVK Mali-G720 / Kbase-CSF — desenvolvimento, progresso e próximos passos

A discussion was started there to gather technical feedback, ideas, and insights to help move things along faster.

Dropping the link here for anyone with a Mali-G720 device or technical know-how who wants to check it out or chime in!

Hey everyone,

According to a recent Phoronix article published on May 13, 2026, the open-source driver for Mali GPUs, PanVK, is making its way to Android. The upcoming Mesa 26.2 version, which includes these changes, is expected to be released in August.

Source: Phoronix: Arm-Mali-G1-Pro-Mesa-26.2

We all know the struggle of emulating on devices with Mali GPUs (Exynos, MediaTek, Tensor) compared to Adreno. While Adreno users have been enjoying massive performance boosts with open-source Turnip drivers, we Mali GPU users basically didn't have drivers for these things at all.

PanVK coming to Android could potentially be a huge game-changer, especially for PC Emulation. If you have ever tried using emulators like Winlator, GameHub, or GameNative on a device with a Mali GPU, you know the pain. Because we didn't have these drivers before, running DX12 titles as well as other heavy games on a Mali GPU was basically impossible. We also already know that we experienced graphical glitches in the past. But now, thanks to PanVK, we will finally be able to actually boot and run them! With PanVK dropping this August, our performance will increase massively, and those graphical issues will finally be gone.

Aside from PC gaming, this update is also huge news for the Nintendo Switch emulation scene. Emulators like Eden Emulator rely heavily on accurate drivers. Because we didn't have proper drivers previously, we constantly dealt with crashing issues. Having a proper, open-source driver now will be a massive blessing to finally stop those crashes and get those heavy Switch titles working smoothly on Mali GPUs.

Supported GPUs:

If you want to check if your specific Mali GPU architecture (Bifrost, Valhall, etc.) is supported, you can find the updated list on the official Mesa 3D documentation:

🔗 Mesa 3D - Panfrost Supported GPUs

What do you guys think? Could this eventually make MediaTek/Exynos devices a viable option for high-end PC and Switch emulation?