The Pixel 6, which will hit stores sometime before the end of the year, will be the first Google mobile with a SoC designed by the North American company . His name is Tensor and, although we do not know many details about him at the moment, the company has placed a lot of emphasis on its processing capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence.
However, the debut of the Tensor chip seems to be just the beginning of a much more ambitious bet by Google. The American company, according to sources consulted by Nikkei, is also developing its own processors for Chromebook computers. A move quite similar to the one Apple announced in 2020, when it released its first Macs with an Apple Silicon processor based on ARM technology.
The aforementioned medium indicates, in fact, that Google has been particularly inspired by Apple , who develops the chips for all its products. However, although Apple is a clear benchmark in this field, it is not the only first-rate technology that does so. Samsung, Tesla or Amazon, for example, also design the processors that they later mount in their computers.
Why does Google want to develop its chips?
The design of high-level processors entails a significant investment within the reach of few technology companies at the moment . Google, luckily for them, is one of those companies with enough resources to tackle it.
The advantages of developing your own processor are multiple, but they can all be summed up in one word: control . SoC is, in most products, the most important element of a product, influencing the behavior of all other components. Having control over said element allows you to decide on each millimeter that composes it, instead of conforming to a generic solution like the one created by Qualcomm or Intel. And this, in addition to opening the door to a better integration between the different parts that make up a product, also allows you to explore new paths that differentiate you from your competition.
A fairly clear example is found in Apple processors, full of secondary elements (such as its own ISP, the Neural Engine or the secure enclave) that were specifically designed to enable a series of functions (such as Face ID) that differentiate the iPhone from your competition. It is no surprise, therefore, that Google also wants to take this path.
