Rumor: Huawei P70 will get a new chip – Kirin 9010

The upcoming Huawei P70 series will get a new HiSilicon chip tentatively named «Kirin 9010». The chip hasn’t been officially announced yet, but work on it has been underway for a while.

We first heard the name Kirin 9010 three years ago — back then, another leak revealed that it would be a 3nm chip. The most likely foundry company was TSMC, but trade restrictions on the company now make that unlikely.

At that time, it’s not likely.

It was revealed last week that the company was shipping laptops with Kirin 9006C chips that were made by TSMC, but they turned out to be old stock. SMIC makes 7nm chips similar to the Kirin 9000, but their performance is worse than TSMC’s 5nm chips. SMIC may be working on a 3nm process, but that’s still a long way off.

SMIC may be working on a 3nm process, but that’s a long way off.

Will the Kirin 9010 really be a 3nm chip, or is Huawei just reusing the name? The latter is probably more likely, unless Huawei has found a way around trade restrictions. The company registered a trademark for the name back in 2021.

Huawei has a trademark on the name.

The company will reportedly bring 5G connectivity back to the P70 series. Interestingly, it is rumored that the ultra-wide-angle camera in the P70 Art will feature a 1-inch type sensor and a high-quality 1G6P lens. It has also been reported that Huawei is developing its own sensors — these should debut in the P70 series, which is expected to be unveiled in March.

Huawei is also rumored to be developing its own sensors — these are expected to debut in the P70 series.