Future of Google Phones - Tensor G5 may be made fully in-house with the launch of Pixel 10 (2025)

[Ink]

Content source

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-custom-pixel-tensor-processor-3343005/

Google teamed up with Samsung for the Tensor series of chipsets, currently powering all Pixel phones from the Pixel 6 series onwards. These processors are semi-custom designs, effectively being Samsung Exynos processors with some Google components (e.g. machine learning silicon) added to the mix.

Now, a new report by The Information (paywalled) has apparently detailed Google’s efforts to produce a fully custom chipset for its Pixel phones. And it sounds like it hasn’t been a smooth process.

Two sources told the outlet that Google has delayed the release of its first fully custom chipset by at least a year. It’s believed that the Pixel maker originally planned to release this first chipset — purportedly codenamed Redondo — next year to replace its semi-custom processors.

Google will apparently stick with Samsung’s semi-custom chipsets for another year as a result of this delay. The Information claims that Google will wait until 2025 to reveal a new custom processor codenamed Laguna. This chip is said to be built on a 3nm process and could be the Tensor G5. This means we might only see a custom Tensor chip inside the Pixel 10 series.

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There’s no guarantee that TSMC-made chips will be superior come 2025, but Google would theoretically be free to switch between chip producers as it sees fit.

In saying so, creating a custom chipset takes plenty of time and resources. Google’s Pixel phones only account for a small proportion of global smartphone shipments, so it might not make short-term sense for a custom Pixel processor. But a custom SoC would allow the firm to offer differentiated features on its phones that could boost sales over time.

We’ve contacted Google representatives for comment and will update the article if/when they get back to us.