Google Pixel 6 secret weapon just leaked — and it’s a very big change

Google Pixel vi hush-hush weapon just leaked — and it's a very big modify

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Information technology sounds like Google is prepare to accept a page out of Apple's book with the Pixel 6 and build its own processor to power its latest smartphones.

That's the word from 9to5Google, which claims that this fall's Pixel lineup will exist the start to feature the GS101 Whitechapel chip developed jointly by Google and Samsung. 9to5Google bases that written report on documentation confirming the move away from Qualcomm'due south Snapdragon system-on-flake.

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This news didn't drop out of the blue. An Axios report terminal yr claimed that Google and Samsung had launched a partnership to develop a custom chipset.

Previous Pixel phones have all used Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, though the Pixel five marked a scrap of a divergence for Google.

With that telephone, Google went with the Snapdragon 765G, a solid piece of silicon but not part of Qualcomm'south high-performance 8 series chipsets that power the leading Android phones.

As a issue, the Pixel 5 costs less than many phones running on the Snapdragon 865, but it besides lagged behind those devices when it came to operation.

Making its ain processors would give Google more control over its own hardware, potentially helping to further differentiate the Pixel from other smartphones. Presumably, the fries could too exist used in other Google products downwards the road, including Chromebooks.

For an additional explanation equally to why Google might go its own way with processors, expect no further than its principal rival Apple. Its iPhones accept been powered by Apple-designed silicon for years, giving Apple tree an edge when it comes to designing its devices.

The iPhones powered by Apple's A-series chips routinely outperform the best Snapdragon chipsets in benchmark tests. Apple has even taken chip making a step further past starting to move its Mac laptops to in-house M1 processors.

Based on the documents 9to5Google saw, Google is referring to this fleck as the GS101, with "GS" apparently continuing for Google Silicon. The chip is expected to power two Google phones this fall — the Pixel 6 and a second model that could be an XL version of that phone.

More: A14 Bionic vs. Snapdragon 888 showdown in our Galaxy S21 benchmarks

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions nearly Apple, the Oakland Athletics and onetime movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.