This week, we exclusively reported that the upcoming Google Pixel 6 will be the company’s first smartphone to be used on a custom disk set currently known as ‘Whitechapel’. The move has big implications for the Pixel series as a whole, but why is Google doing it in the first place? Let’s look at the potential pros and cons.
First of all, it’s incredibly important to note that now it all remains speculation. What we know about “Whitechapel” is very limited at this time. What has been reported, however, gives us a better picture.
What do we do know about Whitechapel?
A report of Axios is what Whitechapel first put on the map. The report claims that the chip was designed by Google, but to some extent had the input of Samsung. Apparently Samsung would also have the task of manufacturing the chip. As for the specs, there is not much to go on yet, other than that it is an 8-core ARM design. The original report also mentioned that Whitechapel would have a ‘dedicated section’ designed to improve the performance of Google Assistant, specifically in an ‘always on’ capacity.
Right now that’s all we are know about this slide. However, there is much we can speculate about.
What does Pixel 6 from Whitechapel earn?
The big question about Whitechapel is what the benefit is. After all, Qualcomm Snapdragon chips are used in millions upon millions of Android phones every year and it just gets better, especially now that more cost levels are being made widely available. However, there are some key areas where Google can benefit from its own chip.
First, there is what the original report mentioned – optimizing the chip for specific tasks. This is an attempt at which Google’s Pixel phones are actually no stranger. In the Pixel 2 series, a Google chip is known as the “Pixel Visual Core”. The custom slide is designed to speed up the AI-heavy processing of photos taken on Pixel, and to enable the processes in third-party apps. The chip was not present in Pixel 3a, 4a, 5 or 4a 5G, and although it did not really break the experience, the speed of processing was certainly striking. The Pixel 4 and 4 XL have introduced an upgrade of this chip, the “Pixel Neural Core”, which improves the speed of Google Assistant. Another custom design in Pixel phones is the Titan M, a security chip used to enhance encryption and store data such as biometrics. With a custom slide, Google can theory everyone of it in one slide.
Google can also take advantage of Whitechapel in Pixel 6 with long-term software support. As it currently stands, Pixel phones running on Qualcomm chips get only three years of updates. Not terrible, but quite disappointing compared to iPhones, which get six or seven. A big part of the reason Pixels is no longer getting support is because of Qualcomm. Google has partnered with Qualcomm to provide future chips with support for up to four years, but this still leaves a difficult situation for Android OEMs who may want to go three or four years, but can not do so reasonably due to the timeline of Qualcomm.
Another potential the way Qualcomm can help the Pixel is cost. There are too many strangers to say anything definite but a custom slide could affordable costs for Google versus the purchase of Qualcomm. This could mean that the Pixel 6 may have better performance than the Pixel 5, which used a second-level Snapdragon 765G as opposed to Samsung, OnePlus and other flagships with the Snapdragon 865. If the cost is also low enough, the chip can appears in Google’s cheaper Pixel phones. However, one possible roadblock could be the scale of Google’s production. Pixels do not sell in large numbers, so the cost is probably proportionally higher.
What are possible disadvantages?
There are probably many other disadvantages to Whitechapel in the Pixel 6, but what about the possible problems?
For one there is raw performance. Google seems to be working with Samsung on the design, which is good, but Samsung’s own Exynos chips are notorious for being far behind their Qualcomm counterparts. Given Qualcomm’s expertise, it seems highly unlikely that Google can match Snapdragon in terms of performance. This can be a disadvantage for many, but in a perfect situation, Google can find a middle ground that sees lower performance than the Snapdragon 800 series chips, but keeps the cost similar to the Snapdragon 700 series.
On a similar note, switching off the established ‘normal’ may result in compatibility issues with Android apps and more. Again, there is far too much that we do not know of this disk to first speculate on what these issues may be, but the potential is certainly there.
There is also the elephant in the room. After five generations of Pixel, Google has shown that it is not really that good for hardware. The company’s performance history saw less than stars quality control and bugs in abundance. Pixel 3 had a laundry list with hardware issues and Google had to issue even better guarantees after the launch issues with Pixel 2. This is something important to keep in mind as Google manufactures its own chips as they are an additional and core component of the device further under their control.
Are you excited about Google’s personalized chips?
There’s so much we do not know at the moment about custom Google chips. They can be amazing, they can fail completely. It’s all in the air now. But what’s exciting is the potential. Google does something that no other (relevant) Android manufacturer does. Samsung makes its own chips, but they do not use them around the world. And Huawei, another Android OEM that has its own chip design, is going downhill fast.
Qualcomm and MediaTek essentially have a duopoly for chipsets on Android. Whitechapel in the Pixel 6 will not change it, and even if / if Google adopts Whitechapel fully in the rest of the Pixel series, the Pixel sales numbers will still not change it. But it is the potential that is exciting.
FTC: We use links that are automatically affiliated and earned. More.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: