After the release of Apollo510, Ambiq has released Apollo510B, an ultra-low power Edge AI MCU that adds a 48 MHz network coprocessor for Bluetooth 5.4 LE (BLE) support. The new SoC combines Cortex-M55 with Helium MVE for AI/ML acceleration, secureSPOT 3.0 security, and graphiqSPOT 2.0 graphics for connected wearables, healthcare devices, and industrial IoT applications.
The Apollo510B features 3.75MB of system RAM, 4MB of non-volatile memory, and a 12-bit ADC. It supports MIPI DSI and Quad SPI interfaces for displays, and offers audio capabilities such as always-on low-power ADC, a PDM stereo microphone interface, and dual multichannel I²S ports with asynchronous sample rate conversion. Peripheral options extend to USB 2.0 HS/FS, dual SDIO/eMMC controllers, multiple SPI and I²C masters, UART interfaces with flow control, and various GPIOs.
Ambiq Apollo510B specifications:
- MCU Core
- Arm Cortex-M55 core at up to 250 MHz with Helium (MVE) vector instructions, FPU, TrustZone, MPU
- Caches/TCM – 64 KB I-cache, 64 KB D-cache, 768 KB tightly coupled memory (Instr/Data TCM)
- Graphics
- 2D/2.5D GraphiqSPOT GPU with vector graphics acceleration 96 MHz / 250 MHz
- Anti-aliasing, rasterizer, texture mapping
- Alpha blending, texture/frame buffer compression (TSC4/6/6A/12)
- Dithering, radial/conical fill
- Ultra-low power memory and storage
- Up to 4 MB non-volatile memory for code/data
- 3.75 MB of TCM and system RAM for code/data
- Display interfaces
- MIPI DSI 1.2 up to 768 Mbps
- Quad SPI display interface up to 125 MHz DDR
- Up to 640×480 resolution at 60 fps
- 4-layer alpha blending
- Frame buffer decompression
- Wireless – Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4
- 48 MHz dedicated MCU with 64KB SRAM, 512KB NVM
- LE Audio with Auracast broadcast audio
- Direction Finding (single antenna)
- Long Range support
- Tx power up to +6 dBm
- Rx sensitivity – –94 / –97 / –103 dBm (2 Mbps / 1 Mbps / 125 kbps)
- Â Audio
- Low-power audio ADC with PGA
- PDM stereo DMIC interface
- 2x full-duplex multichannel I²S ports (1× with ASRC)
- Peripheral interfaces
- 2/4/8-bit SPI master
- 2/4/8/16-bit SPI master (1.2 V)
- 7x I²C/SPI masters, 1x I²C/SPI slave
- 4x UART with FIFOs + flow control
- USB 2.0 HS/FS device controller
- 2x SDIO (SD3.0) / eMMC (v4.51)
- Up to 97x GPIO
- Analog
- 12-bit ADC, 11 selectable input channels, up to 1.7 MS/s
- Integrated temperature sensor
- Clocks
- PLL for precise clocking applications
- 48 MHz and 32.768 kHz Crystal (XTAL) oscillators
- Low Frequency RC (LFRC) oscillator
- High Frequency RC (HFRC) oscillator
- Security – secureSPOT 3.0
- Arm TrustZone technology
- Secure boot
- OTP key storage
- PUF-based identity/sign/verify
- Secure OTA updates, key revocation
- Power management
- Operating range – 1.71 V–2.2 V
- Single Inductor Multiple Output (SIMO) buck converter
- Multiple I/O voltages supported
- Package – 5.6 × 5.6 × 0.8 mm BGA
- Temperature range – -20°C to +70°C
The Apollo510 and Apollo510B use the same Cortex-M55 core, and both are designed for low-power AI. But the Apollo510B features Bluetooth LE 5.4, enhanced graphics (GraphiqSPOT 2.0), improved audio support, and a smaller package for wearables, health, and industrial use.
In terms of software support, I can see that the Apollo510B is supported by Ambiq’s neuralSPOT SDK for AI acceleration and graphiqSPOT APIs for low-power graphics. It also supports CMSIS-DSP, TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers, and Ambiq’s secureSPOT security libraries. Other than that, the company does not provide much information about the MCU. I am also unable to find a development board for this particular MCU.
Ambiq says the Apollo510B MCU is currently sampling to selected customers, but the company does not mention anything about pricing. General availability is expected in the fall of 2025. More information can be found on the product page and the press release.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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