Google confirms its Pixel 11 series is powered by TSMC’s 3nm Tensor G6 chip, sidestepping earlier rumours of 2nm technology and emphasising improvements in on-device AI and camera performance.
Google’s Pixel 11 family has arrived with a small but important correction to earlier chipmaking rumours: Tensor G6 is not built on TSMC’s 2nm process after all. According to Taiwanese news agency CNA, Google hardware vice-president Peng Yu-chun confirmed that the chip uses TSMC’s enhanced 3nm node, ending speculation that Google might leap ahead of Apple in adopting the newer manufacturing technology.
The new processor powers the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Google says Tensor G6 is designed to strengthen on-device artificial intelligence, with a more capable TPU, or tensor processing unit, for machine-learning tasks carried out locally on the phone rather than in the cloud.
The company claims the chip delivers up to 25% faster web browsing and 15% quicker app launches. It also says the TPU has 50% more compute and supports a new version of Gemini Nano for on-device AI features. Google has further upgraded the image signal processor, which handles camera data, to speed up Night Sight and improve digital zoom performance on the Pixel 11 series.
The shift to 3nm also puts an end to months of reports that Google was preparing to use TSMC’s 2nm process for Tensor G6. That earlier expectation would have made the Pixel 11 line an early showcase for the next generation of chip manufacturing. Even so, the broader smartphone race is still moving quickly. Samsung has already introduced the Exynos 2600 as the first 2nm mobile chip built with gate-all-around transistor technology, underlining how tightly the leading handset makers are now competing on semiconductor design.
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