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Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
71–80 of 109 posts
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#72Unrelated to this article specifically, but the biggest thing I'm looking forward to with the Pixel 6 is the improved updates timeline, as Google has said they will provide updates for at least 5 years, which puts them more in-line with Apple. Previous Pixels worked great but then inexplicably lost OS updates after only a few years.
The industrial build quality would also need to be on par with Apple iPhones to see all the updates.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#73I imagine I'm in the minority but I'd rather have a phone a fraction of a millimeter thicker that has a flush back. At this point it's getting out of hand.
I'm the opposite. I'm happy to have a camera bulge if that means better optics and images. I think the idea is that this phone will have the same thickness for most people who use a case.
That's a fair point. I should start using a case.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#74I imagine I'm in the minority but I'd rather have a phone a fraction of a millimeter thicker that has a flush back. At this point it's getting out of hand.
The current generation of smartphones is designed with the expectation that people will use a case. Pixel 6 cases will no doubt account for the camera shape, like all the rest.
I actually hadn't considered that. I don't usually use cases because they make buttons too mushy and take away from the look and feel of the phone and I (so far) don't drop it anyway. I might look for a good thin case or something.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#75I imagine I'm in the minority but I'd rather have a phone a fraction of a millimeter thicker that has a flush back. At this point it's getting out of hand.
Why? What's the useful advantage to a flush back? I don't really see any. As long as I can hold the phone, and it can lie on a table or stand without wobbling, it seems to do what it needs to. It's not like you're stacking phones on top of each other the way you do books or magazines. (And heck if you work in repair or provisioning and actually do stack phones, it's easy enough to turn every other one 180°.) Also I d…
I just think it's nicer honestly. There's no rational thought behind it, it just feels cleaner. I don't really mind extra weight or thickness, it's not like I'm struggling to pick up my phone. I actually have exceptionally large hands so if anything a bigger phone might be better, though I'm not terribly concerned about it.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#76I imagine I'm in the minority but I'd rather have a phone a fraction of a millimeter thicker that has a flush back. At this point it's getting out of hand.
Why? What's the useful advantage to a flush back? I don't really see any. As long as I can hold the phone, and it can lie on a table or stand without wobbling, it seems to do what it needs to. It's not like you're stacking phones on top of each other the way you do books or magazines. (And heck if you work in repair or provisioning and actually do stack phones, it's easy enough to turn every other one 180°.) Also I d…
You can set it flat on a table or desk without a weird rocking effect
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#77From the Verge article it seems the CPU in SoC would be some licensed spec based on Exynos, so I am guessing we aren't going to see CPU performance close to A series processors, but it does seem like a promising start. Google has an incentive to go all in on CPU design as that helps their data centers and GCP both, so we might see significant gains over time. I had to buy a new phone and I am really happy that Pixel…
> Google has an incentive to go all in on CPU design as that helps their data centers and GCP both, so we might see significant gains over time. It seems that CPU design for phones and for data centres are quite different problems, or do you see them as facets of the same problem?
>It seems that CPU design for phones and for data centres are quite different problems
Still limited by the same TDP. Just as data point and prospective Apple spend more TDP budget on its mobile CPU core than any current ARM Server CPU core.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#78From the Verge article it seems the CPU in SoC would be some licensed spec based on Exynos, so I am guessing we aren't going to see CPU performance close to A series processors, but it does seem like a promising start. Google has an incentive to go all in on CPU design as that helps their data centers and GCP both, so we might see significant gains over time. I had to buy a new phone and I am really happy that Pixel…
>SoC would be some licensed spec based on Exynos
I am most interested in their choice of GPU. Would it be AMD?
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#79Other sources seem to be reporting 6.4" and 6.7" diagonal screens. So I guess even the smaller Pixel is now as large as the iPhone Max?
Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for a surge of small phones spurred by the iPhone 12 Mini. Which is a real shame, since I'm way overdue for an upgrade but 99% of phones are way too large.
Re: Google Tensor SoC debuts on the new Pixel 6 this fall
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Last I checked, the postmarketOS folks were working on submitting drivers for older devices to the mainline kernel, with some notable successes.
Right. My point was that Qualcomm is not doing this themselves. The only snapdragon support in upstream (Linux, Mesa, etc.) is done by dedicated people in the OSS community. Qualcomm (and MediaTek, etc.) fork the latest LTS kernel or android common kernel, hack it up for that SoC, and dump that on vendors as the msmXXXX kernel. They'll rebase on top of upstream or android common kernel patches (of that version) for t…
This seems like such a short-sighted move by Qualcomm, is there some reason that they would do this and risk losing Google as a customer? Or, did they always assume that they would lose Google as a customer and so they thought it wouldn't be worth the investment?