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Google Hardware

Google Readies Its Own Chip For Future Pixel Smartphones, Chromebooks (axios.com) 36

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Google has made significant progress toward developing its own processor to power future versions of its Pixel smartphone as soon as next year -- and eventually Chromebooks as well, Axios reported Tuesday. From the report: The move could help Google better compete with Apple, which designs its own chips. It would be a blow to Qualcomm, which supplies processors for many current high-end phones, including the Pixel. The chip, code-named Whitechapel, was designed in cooperation with Samsung, whose state-of-the-art 5-nanometer technology would be used to manufacture the chips, according to a source familiar with Google's effort. Samsung also manufactures Apple's iPhone chips, as well as its own Exynos processors.
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Google Readies Its Own Chip For Future Pixel Smartphones, Chromebooks More

Google Readies Its Own Chip For Future Pixel Smartphones, Chromebooks

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  • And where would these chips be made? (Score:4)

    by DanDD ( 1857066 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @10:44AM (#59945398)

    Do no evil, Google. Use a foundry in the US.

    • Re:And where would these chips be made? (Score:5, Funny)

      by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @10:53AM (#59945426)

      They should go with Frito-Lay, Inc., they make a lot more chips than anyone else.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        More interesting than who makes it is who designs it. Is this in-house at Google or are they working with someone? I guess the core/SoC will be ARM but there is a lot more to them than that. Maybe the Samsung partnership is more than just manufacturing, although their current gen Exynos seems to have some issues.

        It will be fascinating to see what do with this. They must think there is some deficiency with current SoCs that they can't get fixed just by asking. Knowing Google it's some AI or image processing

    • Re:And where would these chips be made? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @10:54AM (#59945434)
      And which 5nm foundry would you use that exists in the US? As far as I am aware such a facility does not exist and there are no plans to build one in the US in the next several years. Intel has many US foundries but they are struggling with 14nm not to mention 10nm. Also Intel is using them for their own chips and will not likely contract them out to other companies.

      • Re: And where would these chips be made? (Score:5, Funny)

        by reanjr ( 588767 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @12:36PM (#59945840) Homepage

        It's because Asian people have small hands so it's easier for them to work with the smaller transistors.

      • How many 5nm foundries are there on the planet? If we (as a species) only have one, two or three and they're all basically in the same area, it would be a good decision to have at least one in Europe and also one in North America.

        • How many 5nm foundries are there on the planet?

          I don't know how many individual foundries but TSMC and Samsung will be making production 5nm chips this calendar year in their foundries in Taiwan and possibly Korea or China. The lines are currently in testing phase now building sample chips and construction of the lines began in 2018. With no US 5nm lines under construction now, realistically it may take a year minimum to build a line and maybe six months to test it. If Google wants chips next year, this US line would not be ready in time.

          If we (as a species) only have one, two or three and they're all basically in the same area, it would be a good decision to have at least one in Europe and also one in North America.

          If you have the

          • It would be a good idea in regards to natural disasters, etc. Remember the flooding that basically stopped worldwide hard drives production [zdnet.com] less than a decade ago?

            • The distance from Korea to China could be over a thousand miles and the same from China to Taiwan. These plants are spaced far apart. But again you could build a plant anywhere you want if you have the money and technological expertise. So if you want one in North America, you could write TSMC or Samsung a multi billion dollar check and spend several years overseeing the construction if you want it that badly.

    • Do no evil, Google. Use a foundry in the US.

      and how is using foreign talent evil ?

  • Could we have a "pi" like board with Google chips? Would real Linux be supported? Or will it be another walled garden.

    • Are you kidding? So a handful of zealots can buy them and then complain about everything? This has the wrong license, they used the wrong fork of *random library*, they used a USB-C connector, the wifi chip doesn't do _____ speeds, ad nauseam.

    • You gotta be joking.

      Have you tried installing proper Linux on the internal flash drive of a Chromebook?

      I have (and I have used it for a while). It is MORE locked down than a Windows machine. With windows we can now get a signed linux kernel (thanks to Ubuntu) and boot. With the Chromebook you have to use the original kernel which has module load prohibited, has all remote filesystems removed and is a vandalism made in the Chocolate factory which has very little in common with Linux as we know it. Then,

  • Should be a real Jack of all trades that won't Ripper the consumer off. Google will make a killing here.
    • I thought maybe it was some sort of pun on the Ryzen Threadripper hidden inside a 19th century reference.

  • Who wrote this article? (Score:5, Informative)

    by DrMrLordX ( 559371 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @11:08AM (#59945490)

    TSMC manufactures Apple's chips. A13 is TSMC-exclusive. Samsung has nothing to do with it.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • Yes, whoever wrote this didn't do enough research. Samsung did make their processors, but that ended with the A7.
      • I think the A9 was the last Apple AX processor to be manufactured by Samsung but it wasn’t exclusive as TSMC also manufactured it.

        • Yup. Samsung was a second source. There was talk of GF being a third source but it never happened.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Maybe they got confused with the flash or RAM memory that Samsung makes for Apple.

  • How long will it be made for? (Score:3)

    by RotateLeftByte ( 797477 ) on Tuesday April 14, 2020 @11:28AM (#59945560)

    How many projects has Google launched only to can them a bit later if they don't become the hottest thing in the world?
    Google's history is littered with projects that while reasonable successful, were canned because.... [insert dumbass reason here] a year of sooner later.

    IMHO, anyone investing in this sort of thing should really be prepared for it to be DOA almost as soon as it is released.

    • It's annoying that they consider these mildly successful things too threatening to simply spin off.

    • How many projects has Google launched only to can them a bit later if they don't become the hottest thing in the world?
      Google's history is littered with projects that while reasonable successful, were canned because.... [insert dumbass reason here] a year of sooner later.

      IMHO, anyone investing in this sort of thing should really be prepared for it to be DOA almost as soon as it is released.

      But this is hardware, hopefully without a remote kill switch. It doesn't matter if Google abandons a phone or a processor. They will continue to work, in contrast to the web and other software applications that can be killed at any time.

    • How many projects has Google launched only to can them a bit later if they don't become the hottest thing in the world?

      Nexus/Pixel is still around. Do you see it being cancelled any time soon?

  • I'd like to know the reason someone at Google decided to do this
    It makes more sense in the case of Apple since they sell many millions of iPhones and Macs every year and they are a big part of their total income. Further, making their own chips makes them less dependent on third parties.
    Google? They're not a big hardware manufacturer. How many phones do they sell per year? Also, their hardware is more a vehicle to get people to use their software products and services and being able to learn things from p

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ras ( 84108 )

      This is a fully fledged CPU with GPU and (presumably) intergrated IPU that operates at very low power. Google uses quite a few CPU's internally - not just in mobile phones. They already make their own silicon for the AI farms for speed. I'd not be at all surprised if they thought spending some portion of $1B on something that lets them built up an expertise that could perhaps shave 1% off their power bill in the future is a worthwhile bet.

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