Google’s next Pixels will reportedly switch to a custom in-house GS101 processor

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/2/22364543/google-pixel-6-custom-in-house-processor-gs101-whitechapel-arm-report

by singhrac • 5 years ago

33 4 5 years ago

jasonvorhe• 5 years ago

This will be interesting. I don't quite know what to expect. On the one hand, Samsung and Google actually might have the combined power to take on Qualcomm, on the other hand Samsung might not want to give Google too much of an advantage as to make the Pixel devices stand out too much in comparison to their Galaxy line.

Then there's the question of commitment: It's quite clear that just relying on Qualcomm won't change the abysmal Android update problem but mass producing custom SoCs for a brand that doesn't even show up in the top 10 doesn't really inspire confidence considering Google's track record of shelving projects.

Not to forget performance: When Google releases the Pixel 6 line, Qualcomm's high end SoC will have been shipping to customers for around 5-6 months with the annkuncem of the successor being quite close again. The Galaxy S21 Ultra with the Exynos 2100 SoC seems to still lag behind the S21 with the Snapdragon 888. I guess as long as GS010 isn't noticeably slower than Exynos, Google will be fine. Then there's the potential for shipping a new Pixel Core on the SoC for on-device AI/ML/Image Processing tasks where Google could really shine and take some benchmark wins.

Samsung also have partnered up with AMD to improve GPU performance for their Exynos line. Might Radeon show up as the GPU in GS010?

I really hope this isn't being shelved after 1-2 years since I'd love to use a high performance ARM-equipped Pixelbook at some point.

pjmlp• 5 years ago

I don't care about Pixel devices, because paying Google prices for the same amount of updates I get on Samsung or Nokia devices isn't worth it.

gundmc• 5 years ago

Hopefully this means more than 3 years of security updates.

necheffa• 5 years ago

That will depend on if they'll include a cell modem in the SoC or still rely on Qualcomm for that.

Google’s next Pixels will reportedly switch to a custom in-house GS101 processor

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