Why did
Google change from utilizing a Qualcomm modem on the Pixel 5 to the Samsung SHANNON A5123 5G Modem for the
Pixel 6 sequence? One guess could be that Qualcomm’s 5G modem was rather more costly than the Samsung modem. What Google did was minimize corners the place it thought it might get away with it. And certain, we get it. Nobody likes to cope with Qualcomm and its mantra “No license, no chips” which I think is chanted each morning within the government suite in San Diego.
The Pixel 6 Professional used the Samsung SHANNON A5123 5G Modem.
In somewhat greater than every week, Google will unveil the
Pixel 9 sequence and it is going to be the final of the Pixels to make use of a Samsung-manufactured Exynos-based software processor (AP). Subsequent 12 months, the Tensor G5 AP shall be used on the Pixel 10 line and it is going to be designed from scratch by Google. It additionally shall be constructed by TSMC utilizing its second-gen 3nm course of node (N3E).
The chip has already been taped out which suggests the design stage is over and the subsequent stage is the fabrication of the Tensor G5. Google is forward of schedule in order that it has the time to repair any severe flaws earlier than utilizing the silicon for the 2025 Pixel line.
However that is subsequent 12 months. This 12 months’s Pixel 9 sequence is powered by the Tensor G4 and it makes use of the Exynos 2400 as a template. Contemplating that Samsung has severely improved the previous couple of Exynos chipsets beginning with the Exynos 2300, this isn’t the Titanic-sized catastrophe that you just may need been pondering it was. The 1+3+4 configuration consists of one Cortex-A4 prime CPU core operating as much as 3.1GHz, three efficiency-performance Cortex-A720 CPU cores with a clock pace as quick as 2.6GHz, and 4 effectivity Cortex-A520 CPU cores operating as much as 1.95GHz.Â
There’s nothing extraordinary there and it exhibits in a current Geekbench take a look at of the Tensor G4-powered
Pixel 9 Professional XL versus the
Tensor G3-powered
Pixel 8 Professional, However there’s a silver lining within the Tensor G4 cloud. Pixel customers are getting a brand new 5G modem after working with the Exynos 5300 on the
Pixel 7 and
Pixel 8 strains. However the brand new modem stays within the Exynos household. The Exynos 5400, in comparison with the Exynos 5300, is as much as 50% improved on the subject of energy consumption.
Certain, this one enchancment would not essentially imply that the Exynos 5400 will carry out higher than the Exynos 5300 and sure, the latter did generate some complaints though not as many because the Pixel 6 Professional‘s modem. However not less than there is perhaps some enchancment in battery life because of new modem.
If you’re undecided whether or not to replace this 12 months or subsequent, your greatest guess is perhaps to attend till the Pixel 10 is launched subsequent 12 months because the Pixel’s AP breaks freed from Samsung for the primary time because the mid-range Snapdragon 765GÂ powered the Pixel 5.
