Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica
Google’s Pixel lineup changes from year to year, but one area of consistency is frequent leaks in the supply chain at every stage of a Pixel’s life. Just weeks after the Pixel 7 arrived in most people’s hands, a German website claims to have details of two Pixel-like devices being tested at Google.
WinFuture cites devices codenamed “Shiba” and “Husky,” both running Android 14 “Upside Down Cake” and featuring a new Tensor G3 system-on-a-chip developed with Samsung’s Exynos division. WinFuture’s source suggests the package, codenamed Zuma, would have the same 5G modem as the Tensor G2, but the processor would be based on Samsung’s 3nm Exynos 2300, with the typical Google AI/ML enhancements, that are burned in. The Exynos 2300 was apparently on the verge of being canceled but has recently reappeared in Bluetooth certification documents.
A 3nm Exynos 2300-based tensor matches what noted pixel hardware observer Kuba Wojciechowski saw in export databases and heard from sources.
“Zuma” will most likely be manufactured on Samsung’s 3nm GAAFET process node, which I’ve been told by industry sources looks very good so far and has efficiencies at least equal to TSMC’s 3nm process should. But we’ll see how it turns out in the end.
— Kuba Wojciechowski⚡ (@Za_Raczke) 09/16/2022
Our review of the Pixel 7 Pro found that Google’s 5nm Tensor chips, introduced because the company was reportedly “held back for years by Qualcomm’s offerings,” were slower than the latest Qualcomm offerings. A change in manufacturing could help push the Pixels beyond ordinary Android performance (but probably won’t even touch Apple’s significant lead).
The biggest change WinFuture is proposing from these rumored prototypes is 12GB of storage in both the 8 and 8 Pro models, making the standard 8 stand out more from the mid to higher end competition. The screen shape and aspect ratio could also shift slightly from 2400×1080 to 2268×1080 on the standard model and 3120×1440 to 2822×1344 on the Pro.
All of this, according to WinFuture, is “pure speculation,” and the devices could be “just test platforms from Google’s hardware team.” There are actually a number of Pixel platforms with hardware ideas including what could become the Pixel 7a, a highly speculated Pixel Fold (possibly delayed to 2023) and an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor test model on top of a “Pixel G10”. However, it’s easier to believe a leak about a Pixel product than about any other flagship device out there.
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