Google Pixel 6 announced: From processor to software, what we know about the upcoming Apple iPhone 13 rival

Google unveiled its new Pixel 6 series smartphones on Monday and showed off a large camera module and a brand new in-house processor. Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s competition for the Galaxy S21 and the upcoming iPhone 13 arriving later this year.

Google took the wraps off its upcoming Pixel 6 series smartphones on Monday -- the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro. These smartphones, which have leaked several times over the past few months, including colours and the unconventional shape, were finally revealed by Google in a limited fashion last night. This year, Google appears to be making an effort to compete with some of the top brands like Google and Samsung, bringing their own hardware to the market. (Google)

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1/6 Google took the wraps off its upcoming Pixel 6 series smartphones on Monday -- the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro. These smartphones, which have leaked several times over the past few months, including colours and the unconventional shape, were finally revealed by Google in a limited fashion last night. This year, Google appears to be making an effort to compete with some of the top brands like Google and Samsung, bringing their own hardware to the market. (Google)

If you have been following the leaks of the Google Pixel 6 devices, then the images of the Pixel 6 series announced yesterday will look very familiar. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have a large camera bump at the rear side of the device. While the design is certain to make for some interesting smartphone covers, it looks like users might have to get used to the top of the phone sitting a little higher than the rest of the phone when lying on its back. (Jon Prosser/Renders by Ian)

2/6 If you have been following the leaks of the Google Pixel 6 devices, then the images of the Pixel 6 series announced yesterday will look very familiar. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have a large camera bump at the rear side of the device. While the design is certain to make for some interesting smartphone covers, it looks like users might have to get used to the top of the phone sitting a little higher than the rest of the phone when lying on its back. (Jon Prosser/Renders by Ian)

The biggest announcement this year, however, is the arrival of Google’s own in-house System on a Chipset (SoC) which it has called Google Tensor. The company’s new Tensor SoC comes with a new security core and a new Google Titan M2 security chip. It will improve the camera performance, speech recognition and much more. The company’s chipset has been dubbed as the company’s efforts to go toe to toe with Samsung and Apple this year, and the new chip should also help the company compete against Apple and Samsung in the camera department. (Google)

3/6 The biggest announcement this year, however, is the arrival of Google’s own in-house System on a Chipset (SoC) which it has called Google Tensor. The company’s new Tensor SoC comes with a new security core and a new Google Titan M2 security chip. It will improve the camera performance, speech recognition and much more. The company’s chipset has been dubbed as the company’s efforts to go toe to toe with Samsung and Apple this year, and the new chip should also help the company compete against Apple and Samsung in the camera department. (Google)

Samsung and Apple both design their own chipsets, and the Exynos and Apple’s A-series processor will give Google a tough fight this year. Google hasn’t revealed the exact hardware specifications of the upcoming Pixel 6 series processors, which means it is tough to compare it with the existing iPhone 12 which comes with the A14 Bionic processor. However, the upcoming iPhone 13, which is expected to ship with a brand new, faster chipset which is definitely going to give the new Pixel chipset a run for its money. (Apple)

4/6 Samsung and Apple both design their own chipsets, and the Exynos and Apple’s A-series processor will give Google a tough fight this year. Google hasn’t revealed the exact hardware specifications of the upcoming Pixel 6 series processors, which means it is tough to compare it with the existing iPhone 12 which comes with the A14 Bionic processor. However, the upcoming iPhone 13, which is expected to ship with a brand new, faster chipset which is definitely going to give the new Pixel chipset a run for its money. (Apple)

On the software front, the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will come with the company’s brand new Material You design that was showcased by the company a couple of months ago. This means that the new phones will support the new wallpaper based system theming and new animations as part of Google’s new design language for Android. The devices are expected to launch with Android 12, and should get updates through Android 15, based on Google’s three-year update schedule. (Google)

5/6 On the software front, the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will come with the company’s brand new Material You design that was showcased by the company a couple of months ago. This means that the new phones will support the new wallpaper based system theming and new animations as part of Google’s new design language for Android. The devices are expected to launch with Android 12, and should get updates through Android 15, based on Google’s three-year update schedule. (Google)

However yesterday’s reveal wasn’t an official launch -- in fact it was more of a teaser, which means that users will have to patiently wait for Google to officially launch the smartphone after revealing all of the phone’s details and the pricing! The launch of these new smartphones is expected to happen between September and November, presumably after Google releases the next version of its Android operating system in the coming months. (Google)

6/6 However yesterday’s reveal wasn’t an official launch -- in fact it was more of a teaser, which means that users will have to patiently wait for Google to officially launch the smartphone after revealing all of the phone’s details and the pricing! The launch of these new smartphones is expected to happen between September and November, presumably after Google releases the next version of its Android operating system in the coming months. (Google)