Google Tensor's Exynos roots revealed in Pixel 6 code

Google's Tensor is proving to be quite the excellent chipset. Google markets it as its first in-house SoC but new information pointing towards the contrary has surfaced, showing that the Pixel 6's SoC isn't quite as original as marketing indicates. 

As revealed by Andrei Frumusanu of Anandtech, Tensor looks to be identical to Samsung's Exynos chipset, with the Google chipset being something of a mid-point between the Exynos 2100 and the upcoming Exynos 2200. There are, in fact, references to the Exynos 9845 (S5E9845) in Google's kernel code. Comparatively, the Exynos 2100 is internally referred to as the Exynos 9840 (S5E9840).

Without getting into semantics, it's obvious that Google's Tensor is more of a heavily customized version of Samsung's Exynos chipset than entirely original silicon. Is that a negative? No. Apart from the base framework, Google looks to have put plenty of its own designs into the chipset. Real-world performance on the Pixel 6 series so far also shows that it outperforms the Exynos 2100. 

Tensor appears to be a solid debut by Google and while it may be based on Exynos—and, as such, will share similar weaknesses and strengths—should be judged by what it offers. Destination over journey, in this case.

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