Shocking Pixel 6 Rumor Lists Google SoC With Dual ARM X1 Processor Cores

What is happening in the world?

Google is building the Pixel 6, and with it, the company is abandoning Qualcomm and introducing its first internal main SoC (with help from Samsung): the “Google Tensor SoC”, aka “Whitechapel”. Other than a few discussions about Google’s special AI sauce, there hasn’t been a lot of information on the main parts of Tensor like, say, the processor. A reasonable expectation for a company building its first SoC is that it won’t be too ambitious. its first design and iteration. But a new report from Mishaal Rahman of XDA Developers claims that even with its first design, Google isn’t afraid to chart its own course in SoC design.

Remember how ARM SoCs typically come with three levels of processor cores: one large processor for burst processing tasks like launching applications, medium cores for sustained performance, and small cores for heavy duty work. low power background and processing. Rahman says he has a source with an actual Pixel 6 Pro and offers the following processor specs: of them 2.8 GHz Cortex-X1 cores, two 2.25 GHz Cortex-A76 cores, and 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 four cores.

If this information is true, Google’s line of processor cores will be unlike anything else on the market. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 and Samsung’s Exynos 2200 both have a Cortex X1, Three Cortex A78 and four Cortex A55. You are not supposed to have two X1 cores. These are the big hearts that can do some serious treatment and cram two into a smartphone could lead to incredible performance. Or it could lead to extreme overheating. You are also not supposed to use the A76 cores, which are from last year. All other companies’ “average” cores are the latest and fastest A78 cores.

Compared to the typical design, Google replaced one of the medium cores with a second large X1 core and then declined the remaining medium cores by switching to last year’s cores. Maybe the downgrading of the remaining middle cores is an attempt to balance the heat output? At launch, ARM said that a 5nm Cortex A78 performed 20% better in the same thermal envelope as a 7nm Cortex A76. But since Google uses 5nm A76s, the A76 cores should emit less heat than the A78.

Franchise

So what exactly is the point here? Is Google trying to seize the benchmark Android crown with this double Frankenchip X1? It would be a shame to devote all these engineering resources to a custom solution and turn an average performance benchmark when chips with mid performance benchmarks are readily available, out of the box, from multiple vendors. There is a lot of effort here that will hopefully pay off in one way or another.

The Android community’s collective tensor journey began with this surprise entry in the Geekbench 5 database, which lists a “Google Pixel 6 Pro” with that unprecedented base 2x2x4 layout. Geekbench information is extracted from a file that is easy to tamper with, but this entry didn’t seem like a fake because it was already completely amazing on its own. Rahman says, “The build fingerprint, kernel version string, CPU frequencies, CPU clusters, GPU info, etc. correspond to the Pixel 6 Pro values ​​from our source.” So it is very likely that this entry shows a legitimate execution of Geekbench.

And for a flagship smartphone, this Geekbench 5 score is terrible. A Snapdragon 888 scores between 3300 and 3500, while Google’s Pixel 6 scores lower than a Pixel 4. We believe this is due to a lot of optimization and configuration work that still needs to be done and that it would be wrong to draw conclusions from the score.

We’re starting to get a clearer idea of ​​what’s in the Google Tensor SoC, although actual performance is still a wildcard. Samsung’s Exynos unit helps design the chip, and the other core components are very Samsung-y. The GPU would be the same as the Exynos Galaxy S21, a standard ARM Mali G78. The modem also comes from Samsung (an Exynos 5123), which will mark the first time in a long time that an Exynos modem has arrived on American shores. Google is highlighting the AI-centric parts of the chip’s design and promises the chip will power on-board voice transcriptions.

Because it has access to someone with a Pixel 6 Pro, XDA has also been able to corroborate a lot of other specs going around. The 50MP “GN1” image sensor made by Samsung for the main camera represents the first image sensor upgrade in the Pixel line in several years. This rectangular part of the camera is a 4x optical telephoto lens powered by a Sony 48 MP IMX586, while the wide-angle camera continues Google’s love affair with Sony’s image sensors from 2016 – it’s is a 12 MP IMX386.

Other reported specs promise a computer powerhouse with a massive 5,000mAh battery, 12GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and 6E Wi-Fi. After taking a year off with the Pixel 5, Google seems to be back in the flagship race.

Google certainly promotes the Google Tensor SoC in its advertising. In Japan (which is apparently Google’s new favorite country), the company is celebrating its very first in-house SoC by selling “Google Original Chips” on the Google Store – literally bags of edible chips, styled after each color of the Pixel. 6. They are all available in a “Googley Salty Flavor” and even have a large stripe across them to match the camera block. The video commercial for the chips – in which a woman charges a bag of Pixel chips with a USB-C plug – is really something.

We still have no idea when this phone will be released. Android 12 is rumored for October 4th, so a release would likely be sometime after.

List image by Google