A new report has just surfaced, claiming that the upcoming Huawei Kirin 1020 SoC will offer a 50% performance boost over its predecessor, the Kirin 990. This report surfaced in China, and it would be wise to take it with a grain of salt.
First and foremost, the Kirin 1020 will be made using a 5nm manufacturing process. It will reportedly go for Cortex-A78 core design, and this chip is expected to be included in the Mate 40 series first.
The Kirin 1020 is expected to offer a whopping 50% performance boost over Kirin 990
A 50% performance boost over Kirin 990 is a huge promise for the Kirin 1020. The Kirin 990 is one of the best SoCs around, and it’s doing great in Huawei’s current phones. All of those phones offer stellar performance. A 50% boost on top of that would be great, though, of course.
The Kirin 990 is made using the 7nm+ EUV process, while the Kirin 1020 will go a step further and opt for a 5nm manufacturing process. That is a significant step forward for Huawei.
The Kirin 1020 will opt for ARM Cortex-A78 cores, if the report is to be believed. The Kirin 990, in comparison, uses Cortex-A76 cores, which are inferior, of course.
The Kirin 1020 processor will probably arrive in Q3 this year. The Kirin 990 was announced back in September last year, at the beginning of the month.
Well, the Kirin 1020 is expected to follow. The Kirin 990 was announced at IFA, and the Kirin 1020 is expected to do the same. Coronavirus fears and the epidemic itself will hopefully subside by then, so that IFA can take place in Berlin. There are no guarantees, though.
The Huawei Mate 40 series will be first to feature the Kirin 1020
The Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, if Huawei opts to call them that, will almost certainly be the first two devices to feature the Kirin 1020 SoC.
That processor will also be used in the Huawei P50 flagship series which will probably arrive in Q1 next year. Huawei’s sub-brand, HONOR, will also utilize that chip in its flagship offerings.
The Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro are currently the company’s most powerful devices. Their availability is still quite scarce outside of China, though. A ban that the US issued for Huawei managed to mess up Huawei’s Mate 30 launch plans.
The company is not allowed to pre-installed Google services on its smartphones, and that includes the Mate 30 series. Therefore, Huawei did not launch this device in time in a number of markets.
The Huawei Mate 30 series did start rolling out to markets outside of China, but with a huge delay. Huawei needed time to adapt its HMS alternative to GMS, and it’s still a work in progress.