Smartphones have, over the past several years, gotten more than a little boring. While the Google Pixel 6 series was a big deal, its sequel wasn’t really anything special. Soon, though, the Pixel 8 series will make its debut, and really, there’s quite a bit to get excited about.
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Tensor might be a lot better this year
By far, the weakest link of every Pixel since the Pixel 6 has been Tensor. While Google’s customized chip is not bad, it’s still lagging far behind the competition. The original Tensor chip was full of connectivity and heat issues, and while Tensor G2 made great strides, it still was plagued with heat problems and more. And all in a world where Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips just keep getting better and better.
With the upcoming Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8, there’s reason to be a little excited.
Google Tensor G3 is expected to be a pretty significant shift from Tensor and Tensor G2. A leak earlier this year mentioned a revamped 1+4+4 core layout and the use of much newer components, most notably including Cortex-A715 and Cortex-A510 cores to back up the new Cortex-X3 that provides the bulk of performance. Those upgrades alone are worth getting excited about, but for me, there’s another aspect.
Tensor chips largely rely on Samsung to come to life, and that also means they’re made on Samsung’s processing node, which, sadly, is notoriously not as good as TSMC’s. However, in recent months, that’s apparently been changing. At this point, Samsung’s 4nm process that Tensor G3 would be based on is apparently on par with TSMC’s. That doesn’t necessarily mean Google is…
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