Huawei announced its upgraded processor, the Kirin 980 SoC, at IFA 2018. Successor to last year’s Kirin 970 SoC, the new chipset brings big improvements to performance and efficiency, as per the company.
One of the key highlights of the Kirin 980 is that it is the first SoC to be made using the 7nm fabrication process. Samsung had previously announced production of chipsets based on 7nm fabrication, but the processors are yet to reach the market.
About the chipset, BGR Media says, in its report on the launch, that the Kirin 980 is the first chipset with Cat.21 modem to support upload speeds of up to 1.4Gbps. It is also reportedly the first SoC to support LPDDR4X RAM with speeds of 2,133MHz. The Kirin 980 SoC packs 6.9 billion transistors in a tiny form factor that is smaller than a thumbnail, the report adds.
“Last year, we showed the world the potential of On-Device AI with the Kirin 970, and this year, we’ve designed an all-round powerhouse that not only features outstanding AI capabilities, but also brings cutting-edge raw performance to consumers. Equipped with all-new CPU, GPU and Dual NPU, the Kirin 980 is the ultimate engine to power the next-generation productivity and entertainment applications,” CEO Richard Yu was quoted as saying in the report.
The Huawei’s Kirin 980, like its predecessor, has also been equipped with AI technology. It is AI powered to intelligently identify gaming workload and adjust resource allocation to ensure you get optimal gaming performance.
The Huawei Mate 20 will be the first smartphone to come with the Kirin 980 SoC. The Huawei Mate 20 launch is set to take place on October 16th in London. In fact, the event is expected to witness the launch of three devices in the Mate series: the Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 Lite. However Mate 20 Lite is expected to run on the Kirin 710 chipset as opposed the premium offering on its elder siblings.
And, the Honor Magic 2, which was teased recently on Twitter with the sliding camera feature, is also expected to be powered by the Kirin 980 SoC.
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