Report: Google’s switch to TSMC with Tensor G5 will unsurprisingly bring 3nm to Pixel

Ben Schoon | Jun 19 2024 - 8:15 am PT

After a few generations with Samsung, Google is set to switch to TSMC for Tensor in 2025. Unsurprisingly, a new report also reveals that Google’s switch will also bring a 3nm process to Tensor G5 in Pixel devices.

Since the debut of the first Tensor chip in 2021’s Pixel 6 series, Google has been using Samsung to produce its subsequent chips. This was, in part, because Samsung’s Exynos provided a foundation for Tensor. But, as Google approaches the tenth Pixel generation, the company is gearing up for a big change.

As first reported in July 2023, Google has struck a deal with TSMC to produce the first fully custom Tensor chip for Pixel devices which, if Google keeps its existing numbering scheme in play, would be called Tensor G5. In the time since that initial report, development has continued to progress including Google locking down testing facilities for the chip.

Now, another new report offers an additional tidbit of information.

Business Korea reports that Google will be using TSMC’s 3nm process for this upcoming Tensor generation. That comes as very little surprise, as Apple started leveraging this process on 2023’s iPhone 15 Pro lineup, and both Qualcomm and MediaTek are also expected to adopt the newer process with their upcoming generations. Tensor G3 is currently built on a 4nm Samsung process, and by late-2025, switching to 3nm was inevitable.

The report goes on to discuss that Samsung, meanwhile, is struggling with yield and power efficiency issues including on the coming Exynos 2500 chip. Power consumption and heat performance are said to be about 10-20% lower than TSMC’s 3nm process.

Due to that, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Samsung may end up shifting back to a Snapdragon-only approach for Galaxy S25 next year.