Google SoC (“Whitechapel”): Pixel 6 is supposed to use its own chip (“GS101”) in 5 nm

With the upcoming Pixel 6, the successor to the Pixel 5 (test), Google and Whitechapel will for the first time rely on an in-house system-on-a-chip, which is manufactured in 5 nm by the contract manufacturer Samsung Foundry. In response to Apple Silicon, the new chip will be assigned the new “Google Silicon” label.

Whitechapel as the first SoC from Google Silicon

As the website 9to5Google, which specializes in Google and its hardware, has learned from internal documentation, the Pixel 6 expected for autumn this year will for the first time rely on a Google chipset manufactured in 5 nm and developed jointly with Samsung.

The new SoC is to be run internally under the designation GS101, with “GS” standing for “Google Silicon”, the website continues. The System-on-a-Chip is Google's alternative to Apple's first M1 processor.

ARM Cortex-A79 with improved TPU

The Whitechapel SoC is expected to be used in Chromebooks from other manufacturers in addition to Google's own smartphones from the Pixel series. In the internal documentation, on which 9to5Google refers, two smartphones with the code names "Raven" and "Oriole" were listed, which are supposed to appear in the autumn.

The Whitechapel design will therefore rely on eight ARM cores from the Cortex-A79 series (“Matterhorn”) as well as an even more greatly improved AI unit (“Edge TPU”) for the Google Assistant.

5 nm production in an unknown node

There is still a big question mark behind the planned production of the SoC in 5 nm with extreme ultraviolet exposure and the underlying nodes from the contract manufacturer Samsung Foundry. The two manufacturing processes 5LPE (“Low Power Early”) and 5LPP (“Low Power Plus”) would currently come into question.

The Axios website had already circulated the first details about the Whitechapel SoC for Pixel smartphones and Chromebooks in April 2020.