Google Pixel Fold 2

Pixel Fold 2 allegedly skips to Tensor G4, suggesting later launch

Ben Schoon | Feb 6 2024 - 10:25 am PT

Google launched its first foldable, the Pixel Fold, at Google I/O last May. For the “Pixel Fold 2,” though, it’s now claimed that Google will skip a chipset generation and launch the device with Tensor G4.

The Pixel Fold hit the market in June 2023 and was a pretty solid first attempt at a foldable. However, as we discussed later on, the foldable’s use of the Tensor G2 chipset caused it to fall behind the Pixel 8 series that debuted a few months later. Personally, I’ve strongly felt that Google should have waited instead of releasing its very-pricey foldable so late in the chip’s lifecycle.

It seems Google may now agree, according to some early Pixel Fold 2 details.

Android Authority, citing an anonymous source, claims that the Pixel Fold will be using Tensor G4, the updated chipset expected to debut in the Pixel 9 series later this year. That chip, as previous reports have said, is supposedly only a minor upgrade over the existing Tensor G3. Apparently, the foldable sequel was originally being tested with “Zuma,” the Tensor G3, but newer prototypes are moving to “Zuma Pro,” the Tensor G4.

This shift suggests that Google would push the release of a foldable sequel past the one-year anniversary of the original Fold. Likely, the foldable would release alongside or sometime after the Pixel 9 series. Google’s flagship launches tend to occur in October. This report also says that Google is still only in the “EVT” phase of preparing the Fold 2 for launch which means there are several steps to go before mass production begins.

Beyond that, the Pixel Fold 2 would also have 16GB of RAM according to this source. That’d be up 4GB from the Pixel Fold and also the highest amount of memory Google has shipped in a Pixel to date. Additional RAM certainly aligns with Google’s AI goals, given on-device AI has higher memory requirements. The device would also be using faster UFS 4.0 storage compared to the UFS 3.1 storage used in Fold and Pixel 8.

It’s still quite early on, so details could change between now and the actual launch. Still, these seem like solid improvements. Next, we’ll look forward to hearing more about the hardware itself.