Google has made significant progress toward developing its own custom-made main processor in recent weeks, reports Axios.
According to the report, Google’s Pixel phones could be powered by the processors as soon as next year a potential blow to Qualcomm, which currently supplies Google with the main processor in its flagship phones.
This rumored Google-designed chip, codenamed Whitechapel, was designed in cooperation with Samsung, who also makes its own Exynos chips and manufactures Apple’s SoC for the iPhone. Google has allegedly already received a working copy of the chip though it’s not expected to show up in any shipping hardware until next year.
Spec-wise, not much is known except that it’s being built on Samung’s 5nm process and features an 8-core ARM processor. Axios claims that part of the chip will be optimized for machine learning and enhancing the capabilities of the Google Assistant. This doesn’t come as a surprise as Google has made artificial intelligence and machine learning the pillars of its software strategy.
Google recently received its first working versions of the 8-core ARM processor, according to the report’s sources. The chip is said to feature hardware optimized for machine learning, and will complement Google’s existing custom Pixel chips dedicated to machine learning and image processing tasks.
Some of its silicon will also be given over to improving the performance and “always-on” capabilities of Google Assistant, according to the report.
The tech giant is said to be hoping that future versions of the processor will be suitable for its Chromebooks, but the Pixel is its first priority.
Apple was one of the first mobile device makers to design its own mobile processors, which have delivered increasingly impressive performance over recent years and allowed the company to save on costs.
Honing its chips over many iterations has enabled it to improve on already blistering speeds and add unique capabilities to its smartphones and tablets. The increased efficiency and control is at the heart of why Apple designs both their hardware and software. It allows Apple to tightly control the experience of every iOS device while ensuring security and reliability. Google likely wants this level of control over the Android experience, at least when it comes to the Pixel.
