ARM details Cortex-A72: Intel Core-M performance coming to your phone

While the figures above can be attributed merely to the generational die shrink, as ARM is aiming the Cortex-A72 architecture at the 16nm production process, it is interesting to note that ARM is now directly comparing its flagship processors with Intel's 14nm ones, like the latest Core-M you will find in many laptops, hybrids and ultrabooks currently on the market. 

That sheer chutzpah of ARM is not without merit, though, as you can see in the chart above, as the Cortex-A72, which can be clocked at up to 2.5 GHz maximums per core, barely budges against the Core-M, but at a much smaller power consumption. These are exciting times, and we can't wait for the first phones with the architecture to hit the market, as both Qualcomm, MediaTek, and, we'd assume, Samsung, too, are on the list of Cortex-A72 licensees.

source: Arstechnica