AI Potluck
Infrastructure / Edge AI hardware

NXP i.MX 8M Plus

NXP Semiconductors

NXP applications processor family with up to a quad Arm Cortex-A53 at 1.8 GHz, an 800 MHz Cortex-M7 real-time core and an integrated NPU delivering up to 2.3 TOPS for on-device machine learning and vision. It carries dual image signal processors and two camera inputs, and targets smart home, building, city and industrial applications, with module options from ADLINK, Toradex and SolidRun.

nxp.com answers 404 to every automated request including its own root, so the figures were checked against NXP's IMX8MPCEC datasheet as mirrored by DigiKey, its meta-imx Yocto layer and Toradex's Verdin module page. Verified 2026-08-14 via those three.

Openness

3 high confidence
3.0
schematics
none (EVK reference designs only)
toolchain
open (Linux/Yocto BSP)
datasheets
public (IMX8MPCEC)
blobs
required (proprietary silicon + NPU firmware)
retail
distributor (commercial via NXP and SoM partners)

Public datasheets and a Linux BSP with broad commercial availability, but proprietary silicon with no open board files. The documentation is the strongest part of the picture: the datasheet identified as "Document Number IMX8MPCEC, Rev. 2.1, 07/2023, i.MX 8M Plus Applications Processor Datasheet for Consumer Products" is mirrored in full and openly downloadable from DigiKey, 111 pages of electrical characteristics, boot modes and pin assignments. The toolchain and the firmware position both come from NXP's own Yocto layer repo - the BSP is public and buildable, and the same README states "The NXP i.MX End User License Agreement (EULA) is displayed during the setup process ... The license must be accepted to allow access to the NXP EULA-licensed recipes", which is the gated-blob half stated by the vendor. No board files are published at all: what the BSP offers is machine configurations for NXP's own EVK and FRDM reference boards, and what the datasheet offers is package and pin data, neither of which is a design. Retail rests on Toradex shipping a Verdin SoM around the part and DigiKey stocking the silicon. www.nxp.com itself is unfetchable - it answers 404 to every path tried including its own root, and browser headers change nothing, so this is the host and not the URL - and these components therefore rest on substitute sources.

  • https://www.nxp.com/products/i.MX8MPLUS recorded 2026-06-22

    official page: Cortex-A53/M7, up to 2.3 TOPS NPU, ML/vision focus. Not re-fetchable - www.nxp.com answers HTTP 404 to every automated request including its own root, under every header set tried - so it keeps its recorded read

  • https://mm.digikey.com/Volume0/opasdata/d220001/medias/docus/5783/IMX8MPCEC.pdf recorded 2026-08-14

    the named datasheet in full, openly mirrored by DigiKey - "NXP Semiconductors Data Sheet - Technical Data, Document Number IMX8MPCEC, Rev. 2.1, 07/2023"; "a powerful quad Arm Cortex-A53 processor with speed up to 1.8 GHz integrated with a NPU of 2.3 TOPS"; an integrated 800 MHz Cortex-M7; package and pin assignments but no board schematics

  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nxp-imx/meta-imx/master/README.md recorded 2026-08-14

    "Yocto Project BSP for NXP i.MX Linux Release LF6.18.20_2.0.0", with i.MX 8M Plus machines imx8mp-lpddr4-evk, imx8mp-ddr4-evk and imx8mp-lpddr4-frdm; and "The NXP i.MX End User License Agreement (EULA) is displayed during the setup process ... The license must be accepted to allow access to the NXP EULA-licensed recipes"

  • https://www.toradex.com/computer-on-modules/verdin-arm-family/nxp-imx-8m-plus recorded 2026-08-14

    a SoM partner shipping the part commercially - the Verdin iMX8M Plus module with a Configure Your Own path and availability listed to 2036+

Adoption

4 high confidence
4.0

Widely deployed industrial processor with SoMs from multiple vendors (ADLINK, Toradex Verdin, SolidRun) and broad distributor availability. The Verdin iMX8M Plus is a live, configurable Toradex module with free Embedded Linux and FreeRTOS support and a product availability commitment to 2036+. NXP's own product pages are unfetchable - www.nxp.com answers 404 to an automated fetch, including its own root - so the multi-vendor half of that availability is not confirmable from any source cited here.

Capability

3 high confidence
3.0

A 2.3 TOPS integrated NPU with dual-ISP vision is solid for industrial ML but lower throughput than the 4-12 TOPS dedicated kits here. NXP's own fact sheet no longer resolves - www.nxp.com answers 404 to an automated fetch across every path tried, including its own root - so the figure rests on Toradex's Verdin iMX8M Plus page, which reads "Neural Processing Unit (NPU) - up to 2.3 TOPS" with 4x Cortex-A53 at 1.8 GHz and a Cortex-M7F. That is still below beagley-ai and ti-am67a at 4 TOPS and well below the Jetson Orin line, so the band holds.

Verified 2026-08-13