Yes, The rumors are true. Google’s next-generation Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be powered by Google’s own silicone, Tensor SoC, instead of a Qualcomm processor. This initiative by Google will not impact the chipset giants’ bottom line, but it will have some kind of impact on the semiconductor industry.
Last Monday, Google took on the Internet to announce their own made silicon for their next smartphone launch, i.e. Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. These two Google flagship-level smartphones will be launched by the end of 2021 in 8 different countries. However, India is not among them, as Pixel devices don’t have a good fortune in the Indian smartphone market.
For a long time, there was a lot of news coming from different sources that Google is working on its own silicon for its future projects. The new Google chipset was previously named “Whitechapel”, but now it has been renamed to Tenor SoC. The name is inspired by the Tensor Processing Units (TPU), which is an AI chip that is used to supply power to the data centers.
Undoubtedly, the announcement from Google regarding their custom-made processor is definitely going to give a tough competition to brands like Apple and Samsung which use their own made processors in their smartphones. And according to experts, this is going to be a remarkable change for Google, in terms of strategy for becoming the number one contender in the premium smartphone market.
What’s New In Tensor SoC?
As of now, Google hasn’t released any updates regarding the Tensor SoC, but the custom-made chipset is built around artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. It is made with the combination of TPU for AI-Led operations and the latest Titan M2 security chip. Other than these, there isn’t any information regarding the CPU, GPU, or other key metrics of Tensor SoC. There’s also not much known about the company that helped Google in designing this custom chipset.
Announcing the new chipset, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said, “Tensor was built for how people use their phones today and how people will use them in the future. As more and more features are powered by the AI and ML it’s not simply about adding more computing resources, it’s about using that ML to unlock specific experiences for our Pixel users.”
Looking at the statement given by Rick Osterloh, it is quite clear that Google was not impressed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, as it was unable to provide the features that the company was looking for in their Pixel smartphones.
Why Google Decided To Launch It’s Own Chipset?
The question that will be going through most smartphone users is what was the need for Google to build their own chipset over Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. Does the decision of switching chipset is going to do any good to Google smartphones?
As mentioned above, Google was not able to deliver the top performance of their Pixel smartphones because of the Qualcomm chipset. And as we all know, how apple has become a giant in the smartphone market by unifying its hardware and software manufacturing. Therefore, we guess Google is also trying to walk on the same path by integrating its hardware ambitions with software prowess.
Users always have a complaint of slow performance and poor battery life from Google Pixel smartphones, but now with their own silicon, Google has the full rights to design their smartphones in their own way, a strategy which is also followed by Apple.
However, the launch of Google on Tensor SoC doesn’t mean that the company is done with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. There isn’t any news from Google whether they are going to use their custom-made chipset in their mid-entry smartphones or not. It’s also not clear how powerful, or how weak will be the Google chipset compared to the Apple A-Series chips. For now, the only information available to us is that Google has spent years building their custom chipset, and it is definitely a bold move from them.
