Yesterday, Huawei unveiled its Matebook Pro 2025 laptops, powered by HarmonyOS, the firm's newly developed operating system, independent of Linux and Android, breaking free from Microsoft's shackles. At the event, Chinese enthusiasts had a go with the machine. They discovered it reportedly features a new SoC from Huawei's chip subsidiary HiSilicon, the Kirin X90, built on a custom Arm-based design. This might be Huawei's "Apple silicon" moment, integrating its devices with in-house software and hardware, though compatibility with already-developed applications remains an open question.
Following sanctions imposed in 2020, the US significantly limited Huawei in its ability to work with international chip designers and manufacturers. Within a short span, the firm was forced to rely on indigenous alternatives, sourcing chips from its HiSilicon division, with manufacturing primarily handled by China's SMIC. Unlike Loongson's chips, which employ its custom LoongArch architecture, Huawei's cores utilize off-the-shelf Arm Cortex designs, and now its own Arm-based Taishan V-series architectures.
Huawei's laptops have mostly been powered by hardware from AMD/Intel, with a few exceptions. While Huawei showcased its upcoming HarmonyOS-powered Matebook Pro laptops, enthusiasts found evidence that the Kirin X90 SoC powers them through the system information. Further details by leaker Digital Chat Station suggest the Kirin X90, codenamed Charlotte Pro, wields a 10-core (4+4+2) / 20-thread layout.
The design is said to mirror the Kirin 9010, found on Huawei's Pura 70 series mobile phones. Therefore, the four prime cores will likely utilize the Taishan V121 architecture. In contrast, the performance cores step down to Taishan V120, and the efficiency cores probably use a standard Cortex design, likely the Cortex-A510.
Kirin X90 https://t.co/olAhXrC6NW pic.twitter.com/QMM3zuTKWDMay 9, 2025
There aren't many performance indicators yet, but server-oriented designs, likely the Kunpeng 930, of the Taishan V120 architecture, match AMD's Zen 3 in single-core performance. The Kirin X90 will still probably be built using SMIC's aging 7nm process node, which is the likely bottleneck. Having their own OS and silicon makes Huawei less dependent on Western tech. It ensures tighter integration within its ecosystem, leading to better optimization, reliability, faster development, and performance.
So, how many developers will port their existing apps to HarmonyOS? That depends on how well the platform takes off. Compatibility layers are a solution, but in the end, if Huawei wants a bite of Apple's market share, it needs a strong ecosystem, including essential daily apps. That being said, building homegrown software alternatives is also an option that fits China's ambitions of tech autarky. No matter what, we can expect to see some actual performance tests of the chip once the Matebook Pro comes out on May 19.
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