Google’s Tensor G6 has turned out to be 3nm after all, spoiling a perfectly good nerd fantasy about 2nm glory.
The dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured hell-on-earth yarns about the Pixel 11 shipping with the smartphone industry’s first 2nm SoC.
Google vice president of hardware Peng Yu-Chun has told Economic Daily News that all four Pixel 11 models use a 3nm Tensor G6. Given that Tensor G5 used TSMC’s 3nm N3P process, the smart money says Google has stuck close to that rather than torching cash on 2nm bragging rights.
That rather dents the idea that Google had somehow beaten the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek to TSMC’s shiny new node. The earlier 2nm chatter looks like the usual pre-launch silicon astrology, complete with charts, vibes and no confirmation.
The odd bit is that Google did not bother to spell out the lithography at launch. If Tensor G6 had been a 2nm miracle, the firm would have shouted it from a rooftop, hired a drone swarm and made Gemini explain it for 20 minutes.
Even DevCheck reportedly failed to show the manufacturing process, listing the seven-core CPU cluster but omitting the node. That silence had people poking around for clues.
Google’s official line talked up efficiency instead. “Meanwhile, an upgraded CPU delivers up to 20 per cent better power efficiency to take you through your day. And together with the new Titan M3 security chip, Google Tensor G6 helps protect your data.”
Google removed a CPU core, which is one obvious way to improve battery life without performing miracles in a fab and fewer cores often use less power.
The Tensor G6 does bring a 50 per cent more capable TPU for on-device AI. But better AI silicon does not require TSMC’s most expensive process node, especially when Pixel volumes are not iPhone-sized.
