Kirin 9030: First details revealed ahead of Huawei Mate 80 launch
A few hours before the official presentation of the Huawei Mate 80 series, a major leak has shed light on its new in-house chip, the Kirin 9030.
Until now completely under wraps, it first appeared in a Geekbench benchmark, confirming an important structural evolution for Huawei’s SoCs.
A 9-Core CPU and a Maleoon 935 GPU: Huawei Changes its Philosophy
The Mate 80 Pro Max, equipped with the Kirin 9030, was spotted on Geekbench with a 1+4+4 CPU configuration, totaling 9 cores—a first in recent Kirin history.
Details of the observed frequencies are as follows:
- 1x core at 2.75 GHz
- 4x cores at 2.27 GHz
- 4x cores at 1.72 GHz
On the graphics side, the chip transitions to a Maleoon 935 GPU, the successor to the Maleoon 920 found in the Kirin 9020. The tested model also featured 16 GB of RAM.
This marks a significant shift: Huawei is moving away from the 8-core structure of the Kirin 9020 (1+3+4) towards a more potent architecture that should enhance multitasking and manage heavy loads more effectively.
Performance Still Limited… But Already Revealing
According to the source Digital Chat Station, the test was not conducted at maximum frequencies, suggesting that final scores may be higher. Nevertheless, this initial measurement provides a glimpse into the capabilities of the Kirin 9030:
- Single-Core: 1,131 points
- Multi-Core: 4,277 points
These results position the chip similarly to the Snapdragon 7 series, clearly below the Snapdragon 8 Elite or MediaTek Dimensity 9500+. This is not surprising given Huawei’s production constraints and the ongoing maturation of its architecture.
However, the major novelty is not raw power: it’s the transition to 9 cores, signifying an intent to widen thermal margins and smooth performance during real-world tasks.
Quick Comparison: Kirin 9020 vs. Kirin 9030
Kirin 9020
- CPU: 1×2.5 GHz + 3×2.15 GHz + 4×1.6 GHz
- GPU: Maleoon 920
- 8 cores
Kirin 9030 (Geekbench leak)
- CPU: 1×2.75 GHz + 4×2.27 GHz + 4×1.72 GHz
- GPU: Maleoon 935
- 9 cores
The outcome: while power remains constrained compared to Qualcomm or MediaTek, the Kirin 9030 should deliver noticeable improvements in multitasking, energy efficiency, and performance consistency over time.
Verdict Coming Soon
Huawei will be presenting the Mate 80 series today, likely revealing more details about the Kirin 9030’s actual capabilities, its fabrication process, its NPU, and the optimizations associated with HarmonyOS 5.1.
One thing is certain: even if Huawei remains far from market leaders in terms of raw performance, the brand continues to evolve its in-house chips at a rapid pace—clearly indicating that its technological resurgence is well underway.
