Google has only revealed a few details about the upcoming Pixel 7 series, but we know there are working prototypes, one even ended up on eBay. Another such prototype, a brick-built Pixel 7 Pro, was used by the Google News Telegram group to dig out more information on the new models.
While the phone itself was locked, the group managed to extract the boot logs. Analyzing them, they found that the Tensor 2 chipset is equipped with Cortex-A55 cores. This is the latest small core based on ARMv8 architecture, the new design (A510) is based on ARMv9. And since the two architectures cannot coexist on a single chipset, this means that the other CPU cores are old ARMv8 models as well.
The logs also revealed that the Tensor 2 will retain the 2 + 2 + 4 CPU core configuration. The original Tensor chip had two Cortex-X1 cores, two Cortex-A76 and four A55 cores. The A55 will clearly remain in place, as will the two X1s: the new X2 core is ARMv9. There is still the possibility of new medium cores as the original design used older A76 cores instead of the latest Cortex-A78 (the last of the ARMv8 medium cores).
This means that we can’t expect major performance improvements from the Tensor 2 chipset, at least not when it comes to CPU-related tasks. The original Tensor wasn’t already the fastest chip on the market when it came out last year, this year the difference will be even greater.
That said, we still don’t know what Google has planned for the GPU and other hardware. Image processing is one of Google’s tricks up its sleeve and is handled by the ISP and the TPU (Tensor Processing Unit).
However, the prototype unit also featured a new display panel, Samsung’s S6E3HC4. This will likely replace the Pixel 6 Pro’s S6E3HC3 panel, but again we expect marginal improvements – the resolution and refresh rate will remain the same (1,440 x 3,120 px, 120 Hz).
Panther = Pixel 7, Cheetah = Pixel 7 Pro
Finally, the logs confirmed the codenames of the two phones: Pixel 7 is “Panther”, Pixel 7 Pro is “Cheetah”. There is also “Felix”, which is probably yet to be revealed Pixel 7a. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are slated to launch in October (along with the Pixel Watch).
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