Today’s new news claims that Google is attempting to switch the Tensor G5 development from Samsung to TSMC.
According to the Information, the initial plan called for the company to introduce its “first fully tailored processor” for Pixel phones in 2024. Instead, “Redondo” missed the deadline for the trial production last year after already eliminating features, and the handoff to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company happened “early this year.” According to a source from today, Redondo is currently being utilized as a test chip before the next generation, and as a result, “it won’t be completed in time for mass manufacturing by 2024.”
The Tensor G5 is probably going to be called Laguna, with these chips having a beach theme, and is slated for 2025. Tensor G5 will reportedly be built using the 3-nanometer manufacturing technique and Integrated Fan-Out for decreased thickness and improved power efficiency, according to today’s sources.
For the design and production of the Tensor chip for the upcoming year, Google will continue to work with Samsung, but it has been gradually replacing more and more Samsung components (“everything from communications and audio to image and graphics processing”) with its own IP.
For the past two years, “many Tensor chips” have been dropped. This comes after last year’s speculated but abandoned Tensor-powered Pixelbook. Notably:
A former Google chip executive with firsthand knowledge of the project claims that difficulties in allocating and coordinating work between the U.S. and India, where the majority of the company’s Tensor silicon engineers are based, contributed to Google’s delay in bringing fully customized Tensors to market.
The former executive also disclosed to The Information that they were sceptical of the amount Google is spending on custom processors given that the Pixel is still not a popular product.
