Render of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro shows a new look for the XMAGE camera module

Now that Huawei is back to its previous schedule of releasing two flagships a year, we expect the Mate 60 series to be released possibly during the third quarter of 2023. The beleaguered Chinese manufacturer already introduced the photography-focused (no pun intended) P60 line and released it earlier this year. Where the earlier flagship is all about photography, the Mate 60 series will include plenty of the latest innovations and technology developed by the company.

Last year's Mate 50 Pro was a hot number that not only had looks, but also had some great features including a variable aperture for the primary rear camera, 6 meter (19 feet 8 inches) water resistance, Huawei's own durable Kunlun glass, satellite connectivity, and Low Battery Emergency Mode.

The photography system used in last year's Mate 50 line was Huawei's own XMAGE mobile photography platform. The contract between Huawei and photography firm Leica reportedly expired in 2021 and now Leica's photography platform is used exclusively on Xiaomi phones. The camera module on the Mate 50 line was round and the Mate 50 Pro featured a 50MP sensor with f/1.4 – f/4.0 adjustable aperture and optical imaging stabilization (OIS), an Ultra-wide camera backed with a 13MP sensor and an aperture of f/2.2, and a Telephoto periscope lens backed with a 64MP sensor with 3.5x optical zoom capabilities.

According to Twitter tipster @RODENT950, the Mate 60 series is made of 5 different models at this stage which means that we could see a mid-range Mate 60 E, the Mate 60, Mate 60 Pro, and the Mate RS. That's only four models, but one of the five currently being developed could be canceled. We expect the Mate 60, Mate 60 Pro, and Mate 60 RS to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC with 5G connectivity disabled.

The camera module for the Mate 60 series looks a little different than the one used on last year's models according to a render posted by the tipster. Instead of being a complete circle, it is made up of two half-circles with a horizontal band in the middle bearing the same color as the back of the phone. By the way, in case you were wondering about the color of the Mate 60 unit in the render, it is lilac.

There is still plenty of time to go before the countdown clock starts ticking for the Mate 60 series which means we should see many more leaks ahead. If you're a big Huawei fan waiting for the firm's best phone of 2023 to be unveiled and released, keep checking in right here for the latest.