The second quarter of 2021 has just started and we’re expecting a bunch of new announcements from our favorite smartphone makers. On top of that, we expect the two giants of mobile operating systems – Apple and Google – to make their moves and officially announce the next updates for iOS and Android. The latter is already rolling out developer previews to allow its Pixel users to get a taste of the novelties. However, Google may bring a virtual version of Google I/O in the next months. At the event, the company might officially disclose the Android 12 update and betas. Moreover, we expect the Google Pixel 5a to get a release at the same event. But what about the Pixel 6 series? Well, the next Google flagship should stick with the usual October launch schedule. However, as usual, this can’t prevent the first rumors from spreading.
Google is well known for not holding well its secrets for the Pixel lineup. Since the Pixel 3, we’ve been seeing Pixel smartphones leaking in the wild several months ahead of the launch. While the Pixel 6 design still is based on rumors, we have some fresh news about the internals.
Gizchina News of the week
According to 9to5Google, this year’s Pixel smartphones will reportedly use custom Google Silicon. As per the report, the next Pixel 6 series smartphones – that bear codenames “Raven” and “Oriole” – will employ this custom SoC. These devices are part of a platform known as “Slider”. This platform will also be used on future Chromebook devices. Apparently, Google is trying to follow Apple that released its Apple M1 last year and is expected to improve its silicon manufacturing in the forthcoming years.
Google’s Pixel 6 custom silicon development in partnership with Samsung
The chip carries GS101 “Whitechapel” moniker. This System-on-Chip seemingly comes in collaboration with Samsung. For that reason, it may share design and architecture with Samsung Exynos processors, along with some software components. This certainly is something that the Anti-Exynos bandwagon won’t appreciate. Moreover, this may change Pixel’s story in the custom ROM community. The Exynos-based chips are somewhat problematic for development. The Pixel is often a strong contender in the community of custom ROMs.
The two expected smartphones are the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6a. Since the last year, Google dropped the XL variant and even left the flagship segment. The Pixel 5 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, so we’re not sure if the custom chip will be placed in the mid-range or flagship segment.