Google confirms Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with custom chip – coming later this year

The Pixel 6 is coming according to an announcement from Google today. The phones, there’s two, won’t arrive until the end of the year but the company has decided to announce the phones, and the new Google designed and built custom processors that will power them.

To start with the new Pixel phones will be the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and will debut ‘this fall’ – that’s Spring for us here in Australia. The new Pixel phones will ‘redefine what it means to be a Pixel’ says Google SVP, Devices and Services, Rick Osterloh.

The phones will be powered by a custom Google processor called the Tensor System-on-a-Chip (SoC), in keeping with their custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) they’ve been using in their data centres for years. 

The new Tensor SoC will feature a new Titan M2 chip for security as well as feature better processing for AI, speech recognition and of course computational photography models that Google hopes to improve their photos.

This new strategy for Pixel phones includes a new design which sees a raised camera island stretching horizontally across the rear of the phone. 

The ‘Camera Bar’ as Google refers to it, reminiscent of the Visor from the Nexus 6p will have a wide-angle main sensor and ultra-wide lens on the standard Pixel 6, while the Pixel 6 Pro will include the same sensors, but adds in a 4x Optical zoom. There’s also a centre mounted punch-hole camera notch in the display for selfies.

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will also feature different finishes, with a “matte aluminum finish” on the Pixel 6, and a “light polished aluminum frame” on the Pixel 6 Pro. The phones will come in different colour options, with the Pixel 6 Pro showing in three colours: black/grey, gold and cream and a more traditional white/black ‘panda’ model. 

The Pixel 6 will also come in three colours, with an orange color option, a model with green/blue highlights, and another black/grey model.

The Pixel 6 Pro will feature a 6.7” display (QHD resolution) with 120Hz refresh rate that’s described as ‘curved’ at the edges, while the Pixel 6 will include a ‘flat’ 6.4” display (1080p resolution) with a 90Hz refresh rate. These phones will apparently also have an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Of course, the new Google PIxel 6/Pixel 6 Pro will run Android 12 featuring the highly anticipated ‘Material You’ theming that lets you use a custom colour palette to design the look of your apps yourself.

Google teased more ‘specific experiences’ that the custom Tensor CPU will unlock for Pixel users, but we’ll have to wait for the official unveil for more info on that one.

Want to know more? Well, there’s not much to see but there is now a Pixel 6 landing page on the Google Store if you want to check it out. We’ll get a full Pixel launch later this year – where we may even see the rumoured folding Pixel phone.