Pixel 6 Google Whitechapel Processor Leak Sounds Encouraging
The past two years may have been disappointing for fans and believers of Google's Pixel phones. The Pixel 4 came with high-end specs but the Project Soli-based sonar features weren't worth the costs and compromises that needed to be made to make room for it. Last year's Pixel 5, on the other hand, was anything but premium and it almost seemed like Google was heading down that path. Fortunately, that might not be the case as the "Whitechapel" Google Silicon is sounding very premium based on new leaks, which means the Pixel 6 will be as well.
The launch of the Apple M1 Silicon last year reignited speculation that Google would also come out with its own processor. Of course, Google has a lot of custom silicon for its internal use but this GS101 Whitechapel would be the first to be commercialized if it does come to pass. And judging by recent leaks, it will mostly be up to snuff on both CPU and GPU sides of the SoC coin.
On the one hand, the latest rumor says that Google isn't aiming to compete with the Snapdragon 888 and its processor will instead match the performance of the Snapdragon 870 but using a newer 5nm process. As always, Google is leveraging machine learning to squeeze out as much as it can, especially when it comes to AI applications.
Well yes, Whitechapel is a 5nm chip with current performance on PVT units closer to SD870, they are not trying to match SD888. Google's focus is on ML & so the raw AI performance is matched to that of other leading mobile chips. Plus that Mali GPU is performing good under stress.
— Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) May 24, 2021
For the graphics side of things, Google may be using a Mali G78 GPU, the same one that Samsung uses on its Galaxy S21 though with slightly fewer execution cores. That's not exactly surprising since Samsung is rumored to be the one manufacturing this Google Silicon chip. Even if it doesn't have all the cores that the GPU theoretically supports, it's still a significant upgrade over the Pixel 5's Adreno 620 GPU which came with the mid-range Snapdragon 765G.
Google will reportedly also use a more contemporary display this time around, giving the Pixel 6 and 6 XL 120Hz screens. This finally puts Google's flagships on the same level as other premium Android phones after what was probably a disappointing 2020 for the Pixel family.