Since Google announced that the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro would be powered by a custom chipset this fall, there has been lots of speculation over whether Samsung would produce it.
This isn’t a huge deal in and of itself, but today’s speculation could be if it pans out. Tensor could be a renaming/rebranding the previously not released Exynos SoC Samsung has been working on for a while and a half, the Exynos 9855. The codename for this is Whitechapel. The codename is the same as the one Google employs internally to describe Tensor.
This SoC was said to have been developed concurrently with the Exynos 9925 codenamed Exynos 9925. The Galaxy S22 line will launch next year under the name Exynos 2200. It will be advertised under the name Exynos 2200.
Given the internal designations, the Tensor/Whitechapel/Exynos 9855 seems closer to the Exynos 9840. That is you may know by its commercially marketed name of Exynos 2100. This is the SoC inside the Galaxy S21 family in some markets. Therefore, perhaps not surprisingly, expect Google’s chip to rate in terms of performance between the Exynos 2100 and the forthcoming Exynos 2200.
This is entirely in line with the release dates of the three lines: Exynos 2100, Tensor, and Exynos 2220. That are due to be released in early 2021. If all of this turns to be the truth, then Samsung is likely to have had a much more substantial contribution to the Tensor project.
It’s not an ideal device for it. And it seems likely that Google has worked with Samsung in developing its product since the beginning.
