--- title: IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold... description: IBM has released Nighthawk r2, a 120-qubit quantum processor that keeps the same qubit count as its predecessor but delivers a 25-fold increase in circuit... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold Increase in Circuit Speed | daily.dev og:description: IBM has released Nighthawk r2, a 120-qubit quantum processor that keeps the same qubit count as its predecessor but delivers a 25-fold increase in circuit... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/F77q32pKw.png og:image:alt: IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold Increase in Circuit Speed og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold Increase in Circuit Speed **[The Quantum Insider](https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider)** · 9 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary IBM has released Nighthawk r2, a 120-qubit quantum processor that keeps the same qubit count as its predecessor but delivers a 25-fold increase in circuit throughput through a new dissipative reset mechanism. The processor executes over 100,000 circuits per second versus roughly 4,000 for IBM's Heron systems, cuts idle reset time from hundreds of microseconds to about one microsecond, and reduces initialization error 25-fold while maintaining comparable gate accuracy. Early tests show up to 10x runtime improvements on large repetitive workloads, and the chip supports in-circuit resets useful for quantum error-correction research. It is now available on the IBM Quantum Platform via the IBM Phoenix system, though IBM notes it is not yet a fault-tolerant quantum computer. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much faster is IBM's Nighthawk r2 quantum processor compared to Heron? Nighthawk r2 executes more than 100,000 quantum circuits per second, 25 times the roughly 4,000 circuits per second of IBM's Heron processors. It keeps the same 120-qubit count as the original Nighthawk but achieves the speedup through a new dissipative reset gadget while maintaining gate accuracy comparable to Heron. _Teams evaluating quantum hardware upgrades can follow processor benchmarks like this one on daily.dev._ ### How does IBM's Nighthawk r2 reduce qubit reset time compared to conditional reset used in Heron? Nighthawk r2 replaces conditional reset with a dissipative reset gadget that connects each qubit through an adjustable coupler to a cold environment, temporarily dropping the median effective T1 from about 200 microseconds to roughly 25 nanoseconds. This cuts idle time between circuit runs to as little as one microsecond, versus hundreds of microseconds on earlier systems like Heron. _Developers tracking qubit-reset and error-correction advances can follow the details on daily.dev._ ### What is IBM Phoenix and how does it relate to the Nighthawk r2 processor? IBM Phoenix is the system name under which the Nighthawk r2 processor is made available through the IBM Quantum Platform. Nighthawk r2 has 120 programmable qubits, 218 dedicated couplers, and 120 separate reset elements, totaling 458 physical quantum elements, making it IBM's most complex processor placed into production. _Anyone comparing quantum cloud platforms can keep up with releases like IBM Phoenix on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [IBM Announces Nighthawk And Latest Heron Are Now Available](https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-announces-nighthawk-and-latest-heron-are-now-available-hhnibwkwa) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Yonsei to Install IBM Nighthawk Quantum Processor for Research and Industry Applications](https://daily.dev/posts/yonsei-to-install-ibm-nighthawk-quantum-processor-for-research-and-industry-applications-rsoqm5tyi) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#hardware](https://daily.dev/tags/hardware), [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing), [#ibm](https://daily.dev/tags/ibm) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold Increase in Circuit Speed","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw"},"datePublished":"2026-09-03T08:49:15.286Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:33:40.751Z","description":"IBM has released Nighthawk r2, a 120-qubit quantum processor that keeps the same qubit count as its predecessor but delivers a 25-fold increase in circuit...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c7c99d638edd13082f18c565e44c548a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c7c99d638edd13082f18c565e44c548a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Quantum Insider","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Quantum Insider","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/7b14a6b34c1b464c9e8a88d9a0dac951","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"hardware,quantum-computing,ibm","timeRequired":"PT9M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Quantum Insider","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"IBM’s Nighthawk r2 Quantum Processor Targets a 25-Fold Increase in Circuit Speed"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ibm-s-nighthawk-r2-quantum-processor-targets-a-25-fold-increase-in-circuit-speed-f77q32pkw#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much faster is IBM's Nighthawk r2 quantum processor compared to Heron?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Nighthawk r2 executes more than 100,000 quantum circuits per second, 25 times the roughly 4,000 circuits per second of IBM's Heron processors. 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