Huawei officially announces 7 nm Kirin 980 will debut in Mate 20 this October

Huawei's latest silicon, the Kirin 980, will debut this October in the Mate 20, according to a press release obtained by Android Authority. The SoC will be the world's first commercially-available piece of silicon based on a 7 nm process. For reference, Samsung and Apple just release 10 nm chips last year.

by Sam Medley, 2018/08/17

We knew that Huawei’s next CPU, the Kirin 980, was coming. Now we know when it’ll be here. Huawei officially announced that the Kirin 980 will debut in the Huawei Mate 20 this October.

There’s been a huge amount of hype surrounding the Kirin 980 over the past few months, and with good reason. This chip will be the first commercially available processor built on a 7 nm process. For those unfamiliar with the electrical engineering that goes into CPU manufacturing, the smaller the process, the more powerful and efficient the chip will be. As such, Huawei will be leading the charge in the next generation of smartphone silicon, and the Mate 20 will be its poster child.

The news broke earlier today when Android Authority attained a press release from the Chinese electronics giant. In the release, Huawei stated that the Kirin 980 will debut at IFA later this fall in the Mate 20. Samsung and Apple, which make up the rest of the smartphone triumvirate, debuted 10 nm chips in their flagships last year. It’s likely the two juggernauts will follow Huawei’s lead this year and release 7 nm chips of their own, but that’s mere speculation at this point.

So there you have it. Huawei’s Mate 20 will be powered by the first commercially available CPU built on a 7 nm process, the Kirin 980. It should be unveiled this October.