Upcoming Kirin chip could trade blows with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Huawei's Kirin 9010 successor, known as the Kirin 9100 in some circles, is set to debut alongside the Huawei Mate 70 series soon. If Huawei's previous release cycle remains intact, we could see it in action by early September, but one report says it could show up in "late 2024". Noted Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station has now let slip some new information about the chip's tentative performance.

DCS says the Kirin 9100's performance will be "two levels below Q", implying it could perform on par with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The leaker further clarifies that it has been "set to 8g2" but will almost certainly outperform the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. One can attribute this to the chip being manufactured on SMIC's N+2/3 node that can supposedly churn out 5 nm wafers with DUV multi-patterning. Unfortunately, there is very little official information about SMIC's endeavours due to the secrecy around it.

Essentially Digital Chat Station implies the Kirin 9100 could perform better than initially anticipated, with one report stating it scored over 1 million points in AnTuTu. An earlier leak said it could it could trade blows with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Subsequently, it was debunked by another individual. Thankfully, DCS has a better reputation than the others and has been the source of accurate information on multiple occasions. Of course, one can't jump to conclusions until the Kirin 9100 debuts as Chinese netizens often "make up" specs at whim.