Beginning in 2026, Google would possibly go in-house with a customized Tensor processor for the Pixel Watch 5.
The rumor comes courtesy of Android Authority, which cites leaked paperwork from Google’s gChips division. Based on the leaked plans, the wearable Tensor chip, codenamed NPT, sports activities a core configuration of an ARM Cortex A78 and two Arm Cortex A55s. These are older CPU cores, however that’s a reasonably typical transfer with wearable processors. Aside from that, particulars are scant and it’s at present unknown which course of node know-how the deliberate wearable Tensor chip may need.
Chips aren’t normally as heavy a spotlight for smartwatches as they’re for smartphones. As long as efficiency is snappy, smartwatch makers are inclined to concentrate on methods to lengthen battery life with out sacrificing sensible options. However it is a doubtlessly attention-grabbing improvement provided that chip stagnation has traditionally been an enormous impediment for Android smartwatches.
Lengthy story quick, Android smartwatches was beholden to Qualcomm chips — and Qualcomm took its dandy time making processors that might sustain with the competitors. (The Snapdragon Put on 2100, 3100, and 4100 weren’t nice, Bob.) It wasn’t till Google and Samsung teamed as much as create Put on OS 3 in 2021 that Qualcomm actually began to really feel the strain. That chip drawback manifested in Google’s personal Pixel Watch lineup. The primary watch was powered an older Samsung Exynos chip earlier than the Pixel Watch 2 converted Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5. Nonetheless, Qualcomm final launched a brand new wearable chip in 2022 and it’s been crickets since.
So it’s unsurprising to see that Google could also be mulling the benefits of going in-house. Doing so would enable it to be much less beholden to 3rd events in growing newer options. That mentioned, it’s potential Google may go one other means solely by the point 2026 rolls round. Maybe extra encouraging is that these leaked paperwork are from early 2023, that means Google was already pondering forward towards a Pixel Watch 5 again then. We’ll should see how issues shake out, however Google’s been steadily build up momentum within the smartwatch area. Hopefully it is a signal that it will possibly preserve it going.
