{"id":8473,"date":"2021-10-20T00:05:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T00:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1370464"},"modified":"2021-10-20T00:05:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T00:05:49","slug":"heres-how-the-pixel-6s-google-tensor-challenges-other-android-cpus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=8473","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how the Pixel 6\u2019s Google Tensor challenges other Android CPUs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro we officially <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/pixel-6-hands-on\">revealed<\/a> today. Alongside them, we got some confirmation about the phone\u2019s fascinating new Google Tensor <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/System_on_a_chip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">SoC<\/a> \u2014 and how it\u2019s different from anything else currently out there.<\/p>\n<p>There are few key ways Google is differentiating itself. One of the most peculiar, as predicted by <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/pixel-6-cpu-what-the-heck\">leaks<\/a>, is the arrangement of CPU cores.<\/p>\n<p>Some background: <span>Current flagship Android processors like the Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 888 use three types of cores. The Snapdragon 888, for example, uses one Cortex X1 (high-power), three Cortex A78 (mid-power), and four Cortex A55 (low-power\/high-efficiency) cores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Where Google Tensor stands out is that it\u2019s using&nbsp;<em>two<\/em> of the most powerful Cortex X1 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz, which should help the phone excel with some demanding tasks.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the company also confirmed another strange rumor: <span>rather than triple mid-tier cores, the Pixel 6 uses just two. Even more puzzling, these won\u2019t even be the newer A78, but instead the older, less powerful, and less efficient A76 cores (running at 2.25 GHz) released way back in 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1370465 js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1.png\" alt width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1.png 1000w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-280x157.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-240x135.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-796x447.png 796w\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1370465\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1.png\" alt width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1.png 1000w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-280x157.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-240x135.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/Tensor_4K_002_1.max-1000x1000-1-796x447.png 796w\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile, the phone still uses four low-power A55 cores running at 1.8 GHz as well, while the GPU is the Mali G78MP20, which should offer gaming performance as good as any on Android device.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The use of the older A76 cores continues to be the biggest headscratcher, and we haven\u2019t heard a clear reason for it yet.<\/p>\n<p>For its part, Google says the processor is 80% faster than the Pixel 5; the GPU is 370% faster. But considering the Pixel 5 was spec\u2019d with a Snapdragon 765, that\u2019s not saying too much, other than that the processor should be roughly competitive with existing flagship Android chips.<\/p>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2021\/10\/the-google-silicon-team-gives-us-a-tour-of-the-pixel-6s-tensor-soc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">ArsTechnica<\/a> interview with Google engineers sheds some light on the core layout decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Carmack, VP of Google Silicon, explains:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"11\">\n<p>\u201c<span>We focused a lot of our design effort on how the workload is allocated, how the energy is distributed across the chip, and how the processors come into play at various points in time. When a heavy workload comes in, Android tends to hit it hard, and that\u2019s how we get responsiveness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He adds \u201cw<span>hen it\u2019s a steady-state problem where, say, the CPU has a lighter load but it\u2019s still modestly significant, you\u2019ll have the dual X1s running, and at that performance level, that will be the most efficient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So there seems to be a greater bias towards having medium tasks run on the X1 cores, rather than the A76s when possible \u2014 hopefully leading to a more responsive phone. By dialing down the powerful cores more often \u201ca<span>&nbsp;workload that you normally would have done with dual A76s, maxed out, is now barely tapping the gas with dual X1s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As noted in the ArsTechnica article, having one big core is actually a recent development for ARM-based chips. Traditionally, these chips have used two or more high-performance cores. Apple, for its part, has continued to stick with a simpler divide high-efficiency and high-performance cores.<\/p>\n<p>Carmack, meanwhile notes that \u201ci<span>f you want responsiveness, the quickest way to get that, and the most efficient way to get high-performance, is probably two big cores,\u201d while suggesting that having a single big core is only great for single-threaded benchmarks.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1362774 js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor.jpg\" alt=\"Google Tensor chip\" width=\"1280\" height=\"719\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-280x157.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-481x270.jpg 481w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-796x447.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-1200x675.jpg 1200w\"><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1362774\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor.jpg\" alt=\"Google Tensor chip\" width=\"1280\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-280x157.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-481x270.jpg 481w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-796x447.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Google-Tensor-1200x675.jpg 1200w\"><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>In any case, Tensor is not an Apple-level leap in performance over competitors \u2014 at least when it comes to basic CPU and GPU tasks. Where Tensor is really meant to shine is in AI and ML tasks with its new \u201cTPU\u201d or tensor processing unit (sometimes called a neural processing unit in other devices). There\u2019s plenty of unexplored potential in this regard.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Google was vague in the specs, other than showing off some tools enabled by Google Tensor, like HDR video at 4K 60 fps, the new Face Unblur feature, and the super-quick Live Translate implementation (read my <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/pixel-6-hands-on\">hands-on<\/a> for more).<\/p>\n<p>The company suggests it\u2019s reluctant to share numbers because existing ML benchmarks are \u201cbackward-looking,\u201d but basically wants us to know that Tensor is meant to run Google\u2019s own ML algorithms optimally. The company says some of these machine learning tasks simply can\u2019t run efficiently on other Android devices; I\u2019m curious what Qualcomm has to say about that.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d still like to know some more numbers though, just as a frame of reference. Rumors have also suggested that Google Tensor was created in partnership with Samsung, but the company made no mention of the fact during its announcement or press unveiling; we\u2019ll have to wait for teardowns to see if people spot any Samsung components.<\/p>\n<p>But more than anything Google Tensor is an opportunity for Google to achieve the cohesion between hardware and software that Apple is best known for \u2014 to have great control over every part of the user experience. In all likeliness, the best of Google Tensor is yet to come, and I can\u2019t wait to see how other manufacturers respond.<\/p>\n<p><i>Did you know we have a newsletter all about consumer tech? It\u2019s called Plugged In \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/hello.thenextweb.com\/plugged\">and you can subscribe to it right here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/heres-how-the-pixel-6s-google-tensor-challenges-other-android-cpus\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro we officially revealed today. Alongside them, we got some confirmation about the phone\u2019s fascinating new Google Tensor SoC \u2014 and how it\u2019s different from anything&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}