5nm Kirin 1020 set to enter "large-scale delivery" in August

Huawei will release the P40 series phones later this month with its Kirin 990 flagship SoC onboard, but the OEM is already working on its next-gen flagships and the SoC that'll power them. The Kirin 1020 is expected to be Huawei's next-gen premium SoC, and a new report claims it's getting closer to mass production.

According to a supposed industry insider "Phone Chip Master" on Weibo, Huawei has now verified the Kirin 1020 in China, with mass production scheduled to start sometime in August.

The Kirin 1020 will be the first 5nm SoC—and will be built on TSMC's node—likely beating Apple's A14 to the punch, although A14-powered phones may hit store shelves earlier. Huawei stuck to Cortex-A76 cores with the Kirin 990, and there are rumors that the company could completely skip ARM's Cortex-A77 in favor of Cortex-A78 cores on the Kirin 1020. ARM is yet to release its new cores, though, so it's a lot more likely that the Kirin 1020 will make do with A77 cores.

The source expects a September launch event for the Kirin 1020, which is just in time for the unveiling of the Huawei Mate 40 series.