Google Pixel 7, Google Pixel 7 Pro: What we know about the smartphones so far

Google is expected to unveil the Google Pixel and Google Pixel 7 Pro later this year. While there’s not much known about the two devices yet, 9to5Google has uncovered some details about the smartphones including their codenames, the Tensor chip that’s going to be used, and also the fact that they will have Samsung modems.

According to older reports, Google was working on “a second generation of the Tensor GS101 processor that powers the Pixel 6 series – and the upcoming Pixel 6a and Pixel Notepad”. The new processor’s model number was then revealed to be GS201 and had the codename “Cloudripper”, which was believed to be “an internal-only developer testing board”.

The recent release of the Android 13 Developer Preview has given some more insight into what Google has planned for 2022. According to reports, “GS201 chip will feature a – currently unreleased – Samsung modem with the model number ‘g53oob’. Google Pixel 6’s modem is listed as ‘g5123gb’ which is the Exynos Modem 5123. Going by the model member of the new chip’s modem, the second-gen Tensor chip might use the Exynos Modem 5300, 'details of which are yet to be announced'."

Besides this, there are also three other additional device codenames that are associated with the Exynos Modem 5300, two of which are ‘Cheetah’ and ‘Panther’. These two codenames are in all likelihood associated with the Google Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro which should launch this fall. Since these devices have the same modem as Cloudripper it is highly likely that the Pixel 7 series will have the second-gen Google Tensor GS201 chip powering it.

Now, as 9to5Google points out, Cheetah and Panther are “distinctly feline codenames” and the older Pixel and Nexus devices before the current Pixel 6 series have codenames related to “fish or other sea life”. The Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro were codenamed Oriole and Raven with the Pixel 6a being named Bluejay, while the Pixel notepad is called Pipit. It appears that Google might be changing codename schemes for Pixel hardware on a generational basis.

The third Pixel codename attached to the Exynos Modem 5300 is ‘Ravenclaw’. While it might seem like a simple Hogwarts reference, it’s probably “more nuanced”. When the first Google Tensor chip was being developed, Google tested it internally by replacing the Snapdragon 765 in the Pixel 5 devices with the Tensor chip. This was referred to internally as ‘Whitefin’ – the codename being derived from the ‘white’ from the Tensor project ‘Whitechapel’, and the ‘fin’ being a part of Pixel 5’s ‘redfin’. Ravenclaw might also be the result of a similar mashup where the body is of the Pixel 6 Pro (Raven) and the GS201 chip bringing in the ‘claw’ from the Cheetah and Panthers, or the Google Pixel 7 series.

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