Google’s latest hardware lineup reflects a shift driven by rising AI capabilities and global component shortages, resulting in hardware optimisations and cost trade-offs across its Pixel and Wearables range.
Google’s latest hardware refresh shows how AI demand is now shaping consumer electronics from the inside out. In EDN’s analysis of the Made by Google event, the clearest theme was not a redesign or a major feature leap, but the growing pressure on logic foundries, memory capacity and cellular components. That pressure is feeding directly into higher costs, and Google is no longer absorbing all of it.
The most telling example is the new Tensor G6 chip. According to EDN, Google is again leaning on a more efficient silicon strategy rather than a simple brute-force performance push. The company says the chip delivers 25% faster web browsing, 15% quicker app launches and 50% more TPU compute, with on-device AI tasks up to 3.5 times faster while using up to 3.5 times less energy. EDN also reported that leaked specifications point to a seven-core design with Arm’s newer C1 family and a PowerVR-based GPU, alongside a possible switch from Samsung modem technology to MediaTek’s M90.
That hardware restraint is visible in the phones themselves. The Pixel 11 family looks broadly similar to last year’s devices, but Google has changed the memory and storage mix in ways that matter to buyers. As EDN noted, entry-level storage now starts at 256GB rather than 128GB. More notably, the lowest-capacity Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL models ship with 12GB of RAM instead of 16GB, a cut that appears to reflect component scarcity rather than product segmentation. The price point, at least for the base 256GB model, has not risen year on year, but the configuration changes suggest Google is using specification trims to offset cost pressure.
That pressure is not unique to Google’s phones. TechRepublic reported that Google has confirmed higher Pixel 11 pricing is being driven by a severe supplier-led RAM shortage, with memory costs rising sixfold since 2025. Shakil Barkat, Google’s vice president of devices and services, said the company had absorbed component increases for as long as possible, but that the economics had shifted. The result is a market in which AI infrastructure, cloud demand and handset production are competing for the same scarce memory supply.
The same pattern is starting to affect wearables. EDN described only modest changes in the Pixel Watch 5, including a small CPU uplift, a larger battery and 3GB of RAM for more on-device AI work, but that extra memory comes with a $50 price increase. PhoneArena also reported that the watch is expected to start at around $349, with the LTE model at $449. In practical terms, Google is pushing more intelligence on device while passing part of the underlying silicon bill to the customer.
Even connectivity is shifting under the same pressure. Android Central reported that Google is moving away from Samsung modems in favour of MediaTek’s M90 5G chip, with an FCC filing for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold reinforcing that change. The M90 is pitched as faster and more power-efficient, with support for dual active 5G SIMs and satellite connectivity. Taken together, the hardware changes suggest Google is building a more carefully balanced platform, but one shaped as much by supply constraints and AI economics as by product ambition.
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