Live image of upcoming Mate 70 Pro shows five rear cameras

There is plenty of anticipation heading into the end of the year as Huawei is expected to introduce its second flagship series of 2024, the Mate 70 line. Last year's Mate 60 unveiling was quite a shocker since it included a huge surprise from Huawei. For the first time since 2020's Mate 40 line, last year's Mate 60 series was powered by a 5G homegrown Kirin application processor (AP), the Kirin 9000s.

Sure, the Kirin 9000s was built on SMIC's 7nm node while iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users experienced the more advanced 3nm A17 Pro AP. But Huawei and SMIC were able to get the chipset built despite U.S. export rules that were supposed to prevent Huawei from using SoCs that support 5G on their phones. And with the Mate 70 line coming before the end of the year, everyone is anxious to see the AP that will be powering those models. 

There have been hints that SMIC will use older deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) to produce a 5nm chipset for the Mate 70 models although traditionally this tech will help prep a wafer for 7nm production and nothing more advanced. One possible alternative to extreme ultraviolet lithography, the technology used to etch circuitry patterns on silicon wafers for advanced chips built using 5nm, 3nm, and even 2nm nodes, is nanoimprint lithography which we wrote about last year. It will be interesting to see which silicon is used on the Mate 70 line and how it is being manufactured.

Right now we can see a live image of the Mate 70 Pro that was found in a Greek online publication. In the photo, the phone is reportedly being held by a Huawei executive. A few weeks ago live images of the tri-fold Mate XT were published and they showed long-time executive Richard Yu with the device in his hand. With that in mind, we wouldn't be surprised if the same Huawei executive is the person behind the hands holding the Mate 70 Pro in the new photo.

Even more interesting is that the photo appears to show that there will be five cameras on the octagon island at the back of the device. The photo also reveals that the screen is curved on all four sides. We do need to point out that the Mate 70 Pro is in a case in the photo so our view of the phone's design is limited. We can see the accented power button and a volume rocker above it on the right side of the phone. The Mate 70 Pro could be anchored by a 60MP main camera

We expect to see five models in the series including the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro+, and Mate 70 RS Ultimate. The Mate 70 Pro will reportedly be powered by the Kirin 9100 AP although the name of the chipset is less important than the process node used to build it.