Eric Zeman/Android Authority
TL; PhD
- According to reports, Google is developing its own processors for Chrome OS laptops and tablets.
- Products using the new chip are expected to be launched in 2023.
- It also claimed that Google is “strengthening” its smartphone processor efforts.
Google confirmed earlier this year that the Pixel 6 series will use the company’s first internal chipset. The custom Tensor processor has some machine learning intelligence, and Samsung modems are also provided.
now, Nikkei Asia The report quoted three sources familiar with the plan as saying that Google is building its own processors for Chrome OS-powered laptops and tablets. Allegedly, it is planned to launch in 2023.
Two sources told the media that Apple’s success in developing custom chipsets or smartphones and computers has given Google “particularly inspired.” Since the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple has been producing internal iPhone chipsets, and it also delivered the first custom processor for Mac computers last year.
More reading: The best Chromebooks you can buy in 2021
It is believed that Google’s custom Chrome OS processor and its smartphone chipset will be based on Arm design, which indicates that we will see Arm Cortex CPUs and potential Mali GPUs. We also hope that these new Chrome OS chipsets will contain machine learning chips, as we have seen in the Pixel 6 chipset. Dedicated ML silicon can achieve improvements such as faster image processing, higher security, and better speech recognition.
NikkeiThe source added that Google is also “intensifying its efforts” to make processors for its Pixel phones and other devices. This probably means that the company is following up with Pixel 6’s Tensor processor, but we also want to know if the company is developing mid-range chips for its Pixel A series.
Finally, the export claimed that, compared with the equipment in 2019 (before Covid), Google has asked suppliers to prepare to increase the production capacity of the Pixel 6 series by 50%.
It is still too early to say whether Google can compete with Apple in the field of desktop computing through a customized Chrome OS processor. But it is worth noting that Apple has also developed its own CPU and GPU, rather than relying on chip designers like Arm. This means that Apple is at an advantage in theory (and usually in practice) because it can have more fine-grained control over the performance of its chipset.