Huawei Kirin 9050 Pro Reportedly Beats Apple A17 Pro in Performance Tests

Huawei Kirin 9050 Pro chipset is reportedly showing stronger performance than Apple’s A17 Pro in some benchmark tests. A report from Bernstein Research says the new Huawei processor can outperform Apple’s 3nm chip in multi-core performance despite using technology equivalent to a 7nm process.

Huawei introduced the Kirin 9050 Pro earlier this month with the Mate XT 2 tri-fold smartphone. The company has not officially revealed the exact manufacturing process used for the chipset. However, Bernstein’s research suggests that the processor uses SMIC’s N+2 or N+3 technology, which is considered comparable to a 7nm process.

Huawei Kirin 9050 Pro Reportedly Beats Apple A17 Pro in Performance Tests

According to the report, Bernstein tested the Kirin 9050 Pro and Apple A17 Pro using Geekbench 6. The Huawei chip reportedly achieved a higher multi-core score than the A17 Pro. Multi-core performance measures how well a processor handles workloads across several CPU cores at the same time.

The results are notable because Apple’s A17 Pro is based on a more advanced 3nm manufacturing process. The comparison shows that improvements in chip architecture and design can help narrow the performance gap even when a processor is produced using an older process technology.

Bernstein also compared the Kirin 9050 Pro with newer processors. The research firm reportedly found that the chip remains around 30% behind Apple’s newer A20 Pro, which is based on a 2nm process. At the same time, the Kirin 9050 Pro is said to deliver performance similar to processors built using older 4nm-class technology.

One of the key changes in the new Kirin chip is Huawei’s LogicFolding design approach. According to the report, this technology increases transistor density from around 155 million to 238 million transistors per square millimeter. That represents an increase of more than 50%.

The higher transistor density and architectural changes also appear to improve performance compared with Huawei’s previous generation. The Kirin 9050 Pro reportedly delivers around 20% higher multi-core performance than the Kirin 9030 Pro.

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Graphics performance has also received a significant boost. The new processor is reported to offer about 39% better graphics performance than its predecessor. Its neural processing unit, which handles AI-related workloads, reportedly provides around 150% higher throughput.

Bernstein described the progress as an underestimated breakthrough for Huawei. The findings suggest that Huawei is improving processor performance through architectural changes and better transistor density, even while facing limitations in access to the latest semiconductor manufacturing technologies.

The Kirin 9050 Pro therefore represents another step in Huawei’s efforts to reduce the performance gap with leading smartphone chipmakers. However, the reported benchmark results are based on specific tests, and real-world performance can vary depending on software, device design, cooling and power management.