Google has been using the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets to power its Pixel phones for the past years. That might change soon with their own chipsets.
In order to save up on cost and passing it the consumers, companies have always aspired to have all facets of their business done in-house. This is not an easy feat, but it is most certainly attainable.
An example of this is the business model of Apple. Everything in their business is designed in house, and manufacturing is done with exclusive partner factories. Hence, Apple can control the narrative of their phones from the idea all the way to consumer experience.
Google is trying to the same, and it won’t be soon before long that consumers will get the same Apple experience from Google devices.
5nm chipsets by Google
For the past four versions of the Google Pixel, the company has been using Qualcomm’s chipsets as their main processors.
Things are about to change as Google is ramping up activities within its hardware division. A report points to the company designing and manufacturing its own chipsets similar to Apple.
Since Apple makes its own processors, they can streamline the smartphone experience for their customers more easily. Moreover, they can design the top features of their phones, specifically for the capacity of the chipsets.
The chipset is code-named “Whitechapel.” It would seem like Google has partnered up with Samsung to come up with an even smaller chip form factor at a mere five nanometers. That is 2 nanometers smaller than the chips made by Qualcomm.
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Google-specific capabilities
The Pixel 4 that was launched in 2019 already came with a secondary processor made by Google. This one particular work on the artificial intelligence capability of the software system.
It focuses more on the machine learning more than the actual local processing of the functions on the phone. This means that the chipset will directly affect the seamless functioning of the always-on Google Assistant.
Since Google is already planning on making their own chips for their phones, they may now be able to integrate the Pixel’s main processor with its own enhanced AI chipsets. That would then give the designers of the phones more physical space within the phone to introduce more hardware.
The new proprietary chipsets will not arrive until the next batch of the Google Pixels in 2021. Signals are also pointing to the chipsets powering the tablet and laptops made by Google.
Although exciting for Google fans, the arrival of these chips in these devices will most definitely be after the launch in the Pixel lineup.
Image courtesy of Unsplash/Lauren Edvalson