With the Pixel 6, we finally got hands-on with Google’s first bespoke mobile system on a chip (SoC), dubbed Google Tensor. While the company has dabbled with add-on hardware in the past, like the Pixel Visual Core and Titan M security chip, the Google Tensor chip represents the company’s first attempt at designing a custom mobile SoC. Or at least part-designing.
Even though Google hasn’t developed every component from scratch, the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is all in-house, and it’s at the heart of what the company wants to accomplish with the SoC. As expected, Google has stated that the processor is laser-focused on enhanced imaging and machine learning (ML) capabilities. To that end, Tensor doesn’t deliver ground-breaking raw power in most applications, but that’s because the company is targeting other use-cases instead.