[News] Huawei Launches New Mate 80 Series with Kirin 9030, Rumored 7nm 9-Core Chip With 35% Gain

Huawei unveiled its new Mate 80 flagship lineup at a launch event on the 25th. According to Commercial Times, citing MyDrivers, the rollout also introduces its next-generation in-house chips — the Kirin 9030 and 9030 Pro. Performance comparisons show that the Kirin 9030 paired with HarmonyOS 6 delivers a 35% improvement in overall system performance over the Kirin 9020 on HarmonyOS 4.3, while the Kirin 9030 Pro reaches gains of up to 42%. However, the report notes that details on the manufacturing process and architecture are not disclosed.

Process Speculation and 9-Core Architecture

Although the specific process and architecture are not disclosed, Chinese outlet MyDrivers suggests that the Kirin 9030 likely continues to use a 7nm process, building on the Kirin 9020 with core architecture refinements.

However, with the manufacturing process still undisclosed, alternative speculation has surfaced. As noted by TechPowerUp, industry sources indicate the chips may have been produced by SMIC using its N+3 process. If correct, this would mark the Chinese foundry’s first step into 5nm-class manufacturing for smartphone processors.

Meanwhile, as noted by MyDrivers, sources indicate that the Kirin 9030 uses a 1+4+4 configuration for a total of nine cores, paired with a Maleoon 935 GPU. Compared with the previous Kirin 9020, one key change is the shift from an eight-core to a nine-core design, delivering stronger overall performance.

Although the launch event did not specify which chip each model uses, Huawei’s official website has now confirmed the details. As noted by Commercial Times, the Mate 80 is equipped with the Kirin 9020. The Mate 80 Pro pairs 12GB of RAM with the Kirin 9030, while the 16GB version uses the Kirin 9030 Pro. Both the Mate 80 Pro Max and the Mate 80 RS Ultimate Design come with the Kirin 9030 Pro as well.

Huawei’s Latest Flagships: Models, Pricing, and Availability

Huawei on the 25th unveiled the Mate 80 series, the Mate X7, and a range of devices at its launch event. According to Commercial Times, the Mate 80 lineup includes four models: Mate 80, Mate 80 Pro, Mate 80 Pro Max, and Mate 80 RS Ultimate Design, with prices starting at RMB 4,699. The RS Ultimate Design starts at RMB 11,999. The report adds that the new flagship foldable Mate X7 series is priced from RMB 12,999, and all new products will go on sale on November 28.

Read more

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• [News] Huawei Reportedly Aims 70% GPU Utilization with New AI Tech, Kirin 9030 Chips to Launch Late Nov

(Photo credit: Huawei)