Quantum/Machines/IBM Eagle
USA · decommissioned · Superconducting circuits
IBM Eagle
IBM Eagle is a superconducting circuits quantum computer operated by IBM in USA. It has 127 physical qubits. It ranks 12 of 43 superconducting machines in this table by physical qubit count. 11 sourced specs are in the spec sheet. 1 published benchmark or milestone record are listed below, each marked by who measured it.
Also known as IBM Quantum Eagle
IBM's 127-qubit processor family, announced 16 November 2021, which IBM described as the first of its processors too large to simulate reliably on a classical computer. IBM's retired-QPU list shows every cloud Eagle device retired, the last two (ibm_strasbourg, ibm_brussels) on 2026-04-27. Eagle processors still run in several on-premises IBM Quantum System One installations listed separately here. The 2023 Nature utility experiment used a 127-qubit IBM processor. Per-device calibration history is not summarised on IBM's public pages.
Spec sheet
Technical details as the builder or a paper states them, each with its own source. A blank is a fact we could not source, not a zero. Fidelity and coherence figures are in the benchmark table below.
| Spec | Value | Basis | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Eagle, 127 qubits (r1 December 2021, r3 December 2022) | Vendor reported | IBM describes Eagle as its first processor with more than 100 operational and connected qubits, with control wiring on multiple levels while qubits stay on one layer. | arxiv.orgnewsroom.ibm.com |
| Qubit type | Fixed-frequency transmon | Peer reviewed | Nature 2023 utility paper (IBM authors) describes ibm_kyiv as 127 fixed-frequency transmon qubits. | nature.com |
| Topology | Heavy-hex lattice, each qubit coupled to two or three neighbours | Peer reviewed | Nature paper states heavy-hex connectivity with at most three neighbours per qubit on ibm_kyiv; a third-party survey of IBM hardware gives the same layout for the Eagle family. | nature.comarxiv.org |
| Max connectivity | 3 | Peer reviewed | Heavy-hex layout: each qubit couples to at most three neighbours (Nature paper), consistent with the survey statement of two or three neighbours. | nature.comarxiv.org |
| Native gates | ECR, ID, RZ, SX, X | Independent | Third-party survey of IBM systems lists the Eagle basis gates; the Nature paper realises CNOT through the cross-resonance interaction. | arxiv.org |
| Two-qubit gate time | 660 ns | Independent | Median ECR gate time of 660 ns reported for several Eagle r3 devices in IBM calibration snapshots of July 2024; individual devices vary. | arxiv.org |
| Cloud platforms | IBM Quantum Platform (all cloud Eagle devices now retired) | Vendor reported | IBM retired-QPU table lists 127-qubit cloud devices, the last two (ibm_strasbourg, ibm_brussels) retired 2026-04-27. | quantum.cloud.ibm.com |
| Access and pricing | Formerly IBM cloud queue; no cloud Eagle device remains | Vendor reported | Retired-QPU page shows ibm_strasbourg and ibm_brussels retired on 2026-04-27; no price is published for Eagle. | quantum.cloud.ibm.com |
| Predecessor | Hummingbird | Vendor reported | IBM states Eagle follows the 65-qubit Hummingbird (2020) and 27-qubit Falcon (2019). | newsroom.ibm.com |
| Successor | IBM Osprey | Vendor reported | IBM describes Osprey as more than triple Eagle at 433 qubits; Heron was later described as a 3 to 5 times improvement over Eagle. | newsroom.ibm.comquantum.cloud.ibm.com |
| Roadmap | Future 433-qubit and 1,121-qubit processors, designed to work with IBM Quantum System Two | Vendor reported | Stated at the November 2021 Eagle announcement; Osprey (433) and Condor (1,121) were the next two named processors. | newsroom.ibm.comnewsroom.ibm.com |
Milestone claims
- Nature paper (IBM): accurate expectation values on a noisy 127-qubit processor for circuits beyond brute-force classical simulation; tensor-network approximations broke down. (2023-06-14, peer reviewed) research.ibm.comithems.riken.jp
Timeline
- 2021-11-16: Announced
- 2026-04-27: Retired
More from IBM
- IBM Osprey (decommissioned, 433 qubits)
- IBM Condor (operational, 1,121 qubits)
- IBM Heron (operational, 156 qubits)
- IBM Nighthawk (operational, 120 qubits)
- IBM Loon (operational)
- IBM Quantum System Two (Yorktown Heights) (operational)
- IBM Quantum Starling (planned)
- IBM Quantum System Two (Chicago) (under construction, 156 qubits)
Comparable superconducting machines
Closest in physical qubit count within the same technology. Counts of different qubit types are not interchangeable across technologies.
| Machine | Operator | Qubits | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Tokyo IBM Quantum System One | University of Tokyo | 127 | operational |
| Cleveland Clinic IBM Quantum System One | Cleveland Clinic | 127 | operational |
| RPI IBM Quantum System One | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 127 | operational |
| Yonsei IBM Quantum System One | Yonsei University | 127 | operational |
| IBM Nighthawk | IBM | 120 | operational |
| Rigetti Cepheus-1-108Q | Rigetti Computing | 108 | operational |