Huawei Kirin 9000s Chipset Is Packing 12 CPU Cores: HarmonyOS OTA Update Unlocks More Performance?

Huawei recently launched the Huawei Mate 60 series and Mate X5 smartphones. The Huawei Kirin 9000s chipset powering these flagship smartphones has 12 CPU cores and not 8 cores as previously indicated.

After receiving a software update, early adopters discovered the Huawei Kirin 9000s is a dodeca-core (12-core) SoC (System on a Chip). Let's see if the new discovery and unlocked cores make Huawei's chipset a better performer.

Huawei Unlocks Four More Cores Inside Flagship Kirin 9000s Chipset With HarmonyOS 4.0.0.116

The Huawei Kirin 9000s is the latest flagship SoC, which was developed by the Chinese tech giant without help from American companies. It has proven to be a powerhouse and reaffirmed the capabilities of Chinese companies to manufacture chipsets indigenously.

The Kirin 9000s was initially believed to be an octa-core chipset with a 4+3+1 configuration. However, Huawei released the HarmonyOS 4.0.0.116 update for its Mate 60 series and Mate X5 smartphones, which has unlocked four more CPU cores inside the Kirin 9000s.

Previous Geekbench tests and apps that reveal the smartphone's internal hardware, had indicated the chip had an 8-core architecture. From the eight CPU cores, there was a single Prime Performance core clocked at 2.62GHz. Three High-Performance cores were clocked at 2.15GHz, while the remaining four Efficiency cores were clocked at 1.53GHz.

After receiving the OTA update, the Kirin 9000s SoC appears to have 12 CPU cores. According to the new Geekbench listing for the same Kirin 9000s, after the update, reveals 3 extra High-Performance cores running at 2.15GHz, and an additional Prime Performance core clocked at 2.62GHz.

Will The New CPU Cores Improve The Performance Of Huawei Smartphones?

Specifically speaking, the Huawei Kirin 9000s reportedly has two Prime Performance cores clocked at 2.62GHz., There are six High-Performance cores clocked at 2.15GHz, and the remaining 4 Efficiency cores are clocked at 1.53GHz.

This means the SoC seemingly has a 2+4+6 CPU cluster. This is obviously better than the previously reported 4+3+1 CPU configuration. It is not immediately clear how much improvement in performance will the newly unlocked CPUs will achieve.

Additionally, the Huawei Kirin 9000s SoC is packing Maleoon 910 GPU. There's no information about the GPU's clock speed. It remains a mystery GPU on Geekbench.