Google Pixel Watch 5 could be getting a customized Tensor chip

Google’s Pixel Watch sequence had a little bit of a tough begin. Having launched a 12 months later than initially deliberate, the first-generation smartwatch had a closely outdated Exynos SoC, which was sluggish and power-hungry in comparison with its competitors on the time. Happily, that was shortly amended by switching to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 platform in Pixel Watch 2. Since then, Google launched one other watch — the Pixel Watch 3 — utilizing precisely the identical chip. With no new platform from Qualcomm in sight, this begs a query — what’s Google’s plan for the longer term Pixel watches?

Thanks to an enormous leak from Google’s gChips division, Android Authority has considered paperwork that describe Google’s plans for a future wearable Tensor chip to be launched in 2026, alongside the Pixel Watch 5.

Google’s silicon roadmap we considered, sadly, solely comprises very primary info, however we are able to nonetheless deduce rather a lot from it. The chip is code-named “NPT,” which we assume stands for “Newport Seaside,” to slot in with the theme of seashores in California (for instance Tensor G5 is “LGA” – Laguna Seaside). The meant launch date is 2026, alongside the Tensor G6, however for the reason that doc was dated early 2023, which may nonetheless change.

The one different element we’re explicitly given is the core configuration — 1x Arm Cortex-A78 + 2x Arm Cortex-A55. A notice additionally says Google is assessing RISC-V as a possible different, though with the current removing of assist from the Android kernel that possibility appears much less seemingly.

The selection of CPU cores right here might sound odd — they’re each historical, with the Cortex-A55 courting again so far as 2017! This, nevertheless, appears to be the best way to go in wearables as each Samsung and Qualcomm (the one two remaining Android wearable SoC producers) appear to go the identical route of utilizing older cores on trendy course of nodes (for instance, Qualcomm’s current Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 makes use of Cortex-A53 cores, courting again to 2012, on a comparatively recent 4 nm node). Talking of which, the configuration of NPT is much like Samsung’s current Exynos W1000, which has 1x Cortex-A78 and 4x Arm Cortex-A55.

Pixel Watch Tensor chip: What we don’t know

One necessary factor we don’t know for certain is the method node expertise used, however given the chip’s context, we are able to make a prediction. Since wearable chips require excessive effectivity, and Google’s Tensor G6, which will probably be launched alongside NPT, is constructed on a 3 nm course of node, it’s seemingly this chip will, too.

One other unknown is the modem. Smartwatch chips sometimes include on-die modems to scale back energy utilization, however Google, to our information, doesn’t presently have a modem to combine, which leaves an attention-grabbing query of what it’ll do.

One factor we all know for certain, although, is that Google will use this new chip to make its watches even smarter. Generic wearable SoCs don’t sometimes have a ton of processing energy, which makes them method much less versatile, however Google can add as a lot application-specific {hardware} because it desires. It will likely be attention-grabbing to see what new experiences will probably be made doable with this chip.