Today we got the first details about Google's upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones, which, if the company sticks to its usual shenanigans, should only become official in October. And yet, here we are in February with some bits and pieces of the puzzle already in view. How neat is that? Anyway, according to a new report, the Pixel 7 duo will use a second-gen Tensor chipset with a Samsung-made Exynos Modem 5300 for connectivity purposes.
The codenames for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7
Pro are reportedly Cheetah and Panther, which is interesting because up until
before the Pixel 6 generation Google's only used codenames related to fish or
other sea life. Then the 6 and 6 Pro were Oriole and Raven, and apparently the
avian nomenclature continues with the yet-unannounced Pixel 6a which is
allegedly codenamed Bluejay. And then we're onto feline themes, it seems. So it
looks like Google is now changing its codename scheme for Pixels with each
generation - until it runs out of animals, presumably. That might take a while,
however.
The last bit of info that got out today
has to do with a third Pixel codename attached to the Exynos Modem 5300, which
is Ravenclaw. Now this may be a Hogwarts reference and nothing more, or things
could be more interesting. Last year when the first Tensor was under
development Google tested it internally by replacing the Snapdragon 765 in some
Pixel 5 units with the Tensor. These models were then codenamed Whitefin - a
mashup including "white" from "Whitechapel", the Tensor
project's codename, and "fin" for "Redfin" - the Pixel 5's
codename.
Similarly, the speculation goes, maybe
"Raven" in "Ravenclaw" refers to the Pixel 6 Pro and
"claw" is just a feline reference, in which case this would be a
Pixel 6 Pro device with Pixel 7 innards, created for testing purposes. Of
course there's plenty of time left before the Pixel 7 generation officially
launches, and for things like these to thus get confirmed by further rumors and
information.
