Google Whitechapel vs. Apple A15 – It’s not even close …

0

Google is actively developing its own custom processor, codenamed Whitechapel. It is said to be launched inside the Pixel 6. But how will it compare to Apple’s A-series chipsets?


One of the main achievements of the past few years has been the creation and deployment by Apple of its own custom silicon. Apple’s A14 chip was extremely powerful and its M1 counterpart now works inside Apple’s new iMacs and MacBooks.

Apple joined the party late, starting years after brands like Qualcomm and Samsung, and yet it has now surpassed the aforementioned two chipmakers in terms of overall performance.

The A14, and the incoming A15, are of monumental power.

Given Apple’s success with its custom silicon, it’s no surprise that Google has decided to make its own.

Google’s first iteration of “Whitechapel” processor will debut indoors Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro Later this year.

But how fast is Google’s Whitechapel processor? Can it hold a candle to Apple’s A14 and A15 chipsets? What about the comparison with Qualcomm’s super-powerful Snapdragon 888?

Let’s find out…

Google Whitechapel benchmarks

Since Google’s processor is still technically unofficial, there isn’t much “official” information on its performance and / or benchmarks.

However, there is a lot of speculation and a lot of thinking and projection about what we can expect from Google’s Custom Silicon.

Leaks indicate that Whitechapel is a 5nm chipset, which will be produced in partnership with Samsung, and when it comes to performance, it will fall somewhere between Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 and SD888.

“Google’s goal”, Remarks Yogesh, a technical analyst, “is on ML and so the raw AI performance matches that of other leading mobile chips. In addition, Mali’s GPU performs well under stress.

This means Whitechapel will be nowhere near as powerful as Apple’s A15 chipset, or even the A12 or A13. It will also have a performance deficit compared to Qualcomm’s new silicon, especially the 888 and 875.

Machine learning over performance – for now

Rather than compete on raw performance, it looks like Google is doubling down on machine learning and AI with Whitechapel – at least for starters.

Building a solid foundation, based on machine learning, will pay off in the long run. Performance may come later, in future iterations. In that regard, it’s a similar approach to what Google has done with its camera technology.

Start with the basics, do the basics really well, take advantage of machine learning, and squeeze out as much performance as you can without relying on hardware alone.

From this solid foundation, Google will be able to quickly develop its platform and, who knows, one day, in the not too distant future, start integrating Whitechapel into Chromebooks as well.

About GPUs, again, not much is known. Above all, this is just speculation. But the consensus seems to be that whatever happens, the Whitechapel processor inside the Pixel 6 will overtake the SD765G.

“Google may be using a Mali G78 GPU, the same one Samsung uses on its Galaxy S21 but with slightly fewer execution cores,” Remarks Slashgear.

He added: “Even though it doesn’t have all of the cores that the GPU theoretically supports, this is still a significant upgrade from the Pixel 5’s Adreno 620 GPU that came with the Snapdragon 765G. mid-range. “

Whitechapel + Pixel 6

As previously stated, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be the first phones to use Google’s Whitechapel processor.

That seems to be pretty much confirmed for now – although things may change ahead of the phones launch.

The obvious benefit of this change from Google is that it gives the company a lot more control over the experience and performance of its phones, just like Apple.

It can then use reconfigured versions of the chipset in new product lines, such as portable devices, tablets, and Chromebooks.

By developing its own custom chipset, Google will effectively have end-to-end control of its Pixel phones, which can and will bring many benefits.

By tightly controlling the software and hardware in its phones, and the way they work together, Google should be able to squeeze more performance out of its Pixel’s base spec without having to use up masses of RAM.

IPhones use less RAM than most Android phones and for the most part they are more powerful phones. This is clearly what Google is looking to do with its Pixel phones.

In the long run, this will deliver a better base experience, potentially lower costs associated with building its phones, and in the longer run, better overall performance.

It may take a few years to get there. But it’s cool. Good things always take time, just like Apple.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.