We’re just a few weeks away from the big Google Pixel 8 reveal, but there’s already talk of what’s to come with the Google Pixel 9 – and it looks like the 2024 flagship will only offer a modest upgrade in terms of the chipset concerns.
This is what sources spoke to say Android Authority, the Tensor G4 chip fitted into the Pixel 9 will be “semi-custom” and “co-designed with Samsung’s System LSI division.” Additionally, it will “most likely be a smaller upgrade than initially planned.”
In other words, it appears that Google’s long-term goal of producing a fully custom system-on-a-chip (SoC) without Samsung’s help will have to wait until 2025 and the launch of the Google Pixel 10 smartphones.
Android Authority compares the jump in performance to that between the original Tensor chip (fitted in the Pixel 6) and the Tensor G2 chip (fitted in the Pixel 7) that came a year later – a jump, but not much of one.
Chips with everything
Ultimately, Google wants to get where Apple is: designing its own SoCs for its phones. It means that software and hardware can be more closely integrated, as teams from the same company communicate with each other.
It also means Google can tailor its chips more specifically to what it wants its Pixel phones to do (think lots of AI and advanced image processing). It’s a bit like building your own PC, compared to buying a ready-made PC.
However, custom chipsets take a long time to develop and require a lot of resources. That’s why until now Google has partnered with Samsung to make the silicon built into recent Pixel phones.
It now appears that this will also remain the case for the Pixel 9, which should be released later next year. In the meantime, the launches of the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel Watch 2 are scheduled for Wednesday, October 4, and we’ll bring you all the news as it happens.