Huawei Mate 30 Pro to stick with square camera, use upgraded sensors

UPDATE: Tipster Ice Universe has published a tweet which contains information about what seems to be the Mate 30 Pro's camera setup. The updated story continues below:

Display with dramatic curves but a lower resolution

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro will make its debut later this year with an all-new display that’ll boast the “largest curvature ever.” This information arrives courtesy of tipster Max J. and should be taken with a “pinch of salt” because it was obtained from an “unconfirmed source.” There’s no denying, however, that it coincides perfectly with previous front panel leaks which showcased the presence of more prominent curves on either side of the display.

As indicated by a set of live images recently, Huawei’s next flagship will also retain the Mate 20 Pro’s wide notch and accompanying 3D facial recognition technology. But according to today’s information, the Chinese company does have one pretty big downgrade planned. Rather than sticking with the 3120 x 1440p resolution of last year’s device, the Mate 30 Pro will apparently settle for a 2600 x 1200p display.

Accompanying all of this should be extremely thin side bezels and a small chin. Regarding the smartphone’s frame, a USB-C port is to be expected along the bottom in addition to a SIM Card tray which will house a nanoSD card slot. Also set to make the cut is a dedicated speaker rather than one fitted inside the USB connector. Unfortunately, the Mate 30 Pro will probably skip the 3.5mm headphone jack again.

The Mate 20 Pro's square camera could be making a return after all

A clear look at the rear of Huawei’s next flagship is yet to emerge but today’s information contradicts everything mentioned before. Apparently, the Mate 30 Pro will adopt a back panel design that “looks similar” to that of its predecessor, therefore suggesting reports of a new circular camera setup were completely inaccurate. 

For those of you that aren’t aware, the current-gen Mate 20 Pro kickstarted the recent square camera module trend. But rather than placing it in the top-left corner like the iPhone 11 or Pixel 4, Huawei’s 2018 flagship embraces a centered layout, something that the Mate 30 Pro is now expected to inherit.

In terms of what camera hardware Huawei’s next flagship will offer, rumor has it the company is planning an updated version of the P30 Pro’s setup. Ice Universe suggests the latter's 40-megapixel primary camera will be retained alongside its 8-megapixel periscope zoom alternative and dedicated Time-of-Flight sensor for improved portrait photos. But in order to better differentiate the flagships, Huawei is reportedly planning a big upgrade to the super-wide-angle camera that'll boost its resolution from 20 to 40-megapixels. Presumably, an LED flash will sit in the middle of the square camera setup and Leica branding will be positioned above. 

Huawei Mate 30 Pro announcement and specifications

Paired with everything mentioned above should be a bunch of flagship-level internal components. The list will be led by the upcoming Kirin 990 which should be noticeably more powerful than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 which is used by the OnePlus 7 Pro and will also be featured inside the Galaxy Note 10 series. Also to be expected is a minimum of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, although other variants are likely.

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro isn’t expected to launch until late October which means it’s a perfect candidate for Android 10 Q straight out of the box. This will be coupled with Huawei’s new EMUI 10 interface and potentially a 4,200mAh battery which may support 55W fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging. Competing the setup could potentially be support for 5G networks as standard.

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro should go official at an event in mid-October and is expected to be accompanied by the standard Mate 30. Other candidates for appearances at the announcement include a large Mate 30 X and an ultra-premium Mate 30 RS Porsche Design.