Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google and TSMC have reportedly signed a long-term deal to supply Tensor chips for the Pixel cellphone line.
- That is apparently a three-to-five-year deal and will final till the Pixel 14’s launch.
- TSMC has historically constructed extra environment friendly processors than rival Samsung Foundry, which has constructed all Tensor chips so far.
Google has beforehand relied on Samsung to supply its Tensor chips for Pixel telephones, however that may change with the Pixel 10 sequence later this 12 months. Prime canine TSMC is predicted to make the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 processor. Nevertheless, it now seems to be like this received’t be a short-term association by any measure.
Digitimes stories (h/t: Jukanlosreve) that Google and TSMC have a three-to-five-year deal to supply smartphone chips for the Pixel sequence. The outlet provides that the deal will final till the Pixel 14 vary.
What does this imply for future Tensor chips in Pixel telephones?
This needs to be excellent news for Google’s Pixel telephones, as TSMC has lengthy had a fame for being the perfect chip producer within the trade. This was starkly illustrated with 2022’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 smartphone chips.
The usual chipset was manufactured by rival Samsung Foundry, whereas the Plus variant was produced by TSMC. The Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 delivered a notable efficiency enhance over the unique chip as anticipated but in addition yielded main effectivity positive factors. Effectivity enhancements have been beforehand extraordinary for Qualcomm’s Plus chips as they’re sometimes overclocked variations of their customary high-end processor.
What would you like most from the Pixel 10’s chip?
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Samsung’s chipmaking enterprise additionally suffered a significant blow with the Galaxy S25 sequence launch. The Galaxy S telephones are historically powered by each Snapdragon and in-house Exynos chips as a part of a dual-sourcing technique. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S25 sequence was completely powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. It’s believed that Samsung Foundry couldn’t make sufficient Exynos 2500 chips for the brand new Galaxy telephones. Yield points like this are an issue that Google will doubtless keep away from by switching to TSMC, though Google doesn’t promote almost as many Pixel telephones as Samsung’s Galaxy S sequence anyway.
We’re anticipating the Tensor G5 to have a big effectivity enhance over earlier chips because of TSMC’s 3nm manufacturing course of. So we’re anticipating the Pixel 10 sequence to supply good battery life. Nevertheless, our personal reporting means that the brand new chip will probably be an iterative efficiency improve. In the meantime, our earlier Tensor G6 leak suggests the Pixel 11 might really be a downgrade. However, a long-term partnership between Google and TSMC bodes effectively for the way forward for Tensor chips and the Pixel line.
