Google jumped into the world of custom mobile chips with thePixel 6’s Tensor G1. It was not a fully custom-designed SoC, as the company partnered with Samsung’s LSI division and used one of its reference designs as the base. With theTensor G2, Google’s customizations went further to deliver better AI and ML performance.Google reportedlyplanned to switch to its fully custom in-house Tensor chip with the Pixel 9 in 2024 but delayed the plans by a year. A new leak now sheds light on the Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 and the company’s custom chip efforts.
Google was designing its full-custom chip “Redondo” for the 2024 Pixel 9 series fabricated on TSMC’s 3nm node. However, delays have caused the chipset’s debut to be pushed back by a year. Despite this, the SoC will be manufactured for testing purposes as the 2025 Pixel’s SoC will share many of the design elements of “Redondo.”
For the 2025 Pixels, the company is working on the “Laguna Beach” Tensor chipset, with its development board codenamed “Deepspace.” There are no details about this SoC yet, but it should pack notable optimizations and IP blocks based on Google’s requirements.
Now, in a best-case scenario and without further delays, Google’s custom Tensor chip should appear on the 2025 Pixel 10 series. But what about the Pixel 9? Google apparently plans to stick with Samsung for another year, with the 2024 Pixels using an upgraded variant of theTensor G3.
Android Authorityreports the Tensor G4 is codenamed “Zuma Pro,” while the upcomingPixel 8’s Tensor G3 is internally known as “Zuma.” This suggests the Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 will be based on the G3 and purportedly pack modest improvements than initially planned.
The Tensor G3 is shaping to be a huge upgrade, so this should not be a cause of concern. It willreportedly pack 9 CPU coresin a 4+4+1 configuration, featuring four Cortex-A510 cores and four Cortex-A715, followed by a single high-performance Cortex-X3 core clocked at 3.0 GHz. The TPU is seemingly also getting an upgrade and could run at 1.1GHz, though its improvements are not yet clear.
For reference, Google calls the Tensor G2 “Whitechapel Pro” internally, while the original Tensor is codenamed “Whitechapel.” The latter heavily focused on efficiency improvements and introduced marginal performance improvements.
Google’s custom chip for the Pixel is at least two years away from debuting, and a lot could change by then. But if the company can replicate the performance and efficiency of Apple’s A-series chips for iPhones and iPads with its custom-designed Tensor SoCs, it could help the Pixel lineup to stand out among thebest Android phones.
