Google is still betting on its home-grown Tensor chips, even if raw speed keeps making rivals look smug.
The Pixel 11 lineup is expected later this year with Google’s Tensor G6, rather than a flagship Snapdragon or MediaTek chip. Anyone hoping Mountain View would switch silicon horses appears to have guessed wrong.
The dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell-on-earth yarn suggesting Google will stick with Tensor for the Pixel 12 family next year. The next chip is expected to be the Tensor G7.
According to MysticLeaks on Telegram, the Tensor G7 is being developed under the codename Lajolla or LaJolla. That probably points to the La Jolla area in San Diego, because chip codenames apparently need holiday brochure energy.
There is not much else in the leak for now. The Tensor G6 is expected to be Google’s first 2nm system-on-chip mass produced by TSMC, and the Tensor G7 will probably remain on the same lithography.
TSMC should have a more polished version of its 2nm node by then, which could give Google some efficiency gains without making the thing a benchmark monster.
That matters because Google’s Tensor chips have never been built to win bar-room fights over raw performance. The company has usually tuned them around Pixel features and user needs, rather than chasing daft speed records.
The Tensor G5 is currently Google’s fastest chip, but in raw compute terms it is barely ahead of the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
That gap has annoyed buyers because Google keeps charging premium prices for phones that can be slower than rival Android flagships.
At some point, Tensor will need to stop leaning on clever software and start matching the competition on grunt. Whether the Tensor G7 finally does that remains the question hanging over the Pixel 12.
