Just one day after Apple announced a series of new products at its Unleashed event, Google will take the stage to reveal its next phone. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have leaked repeatedly in recent weeks, and Google has even done some leaking itself. Much like Apple, Google has built its own custom chip for the Pixel. The phone has also received its most substantial redesign in years. You can see Google pull back the curtain during its Pixel 6 live stream on Tuesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.
Pixel 6 live stream: What to expect
Unsurprisingly, Pixel 6 leaks started hitting the internet months ago. We knew early on that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would feature a radical new design. The first leaked renders showed up in May, and we got our first glimpse of the nearly bezel-less display and the unique camera bar.
Leaks continued to trickle out, but by August, Google had had enough. On August 2nd, Google’s Rick Osterloh published a blog post that not only confirmed the final designs of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, but also detailed the custom Tensor SoC that would power the phones.
Here’s what Osterloh had to say about Google’s Tensor chip in the blog post earlier this year:
The team that designed our silicon wanted to make Pixel even more capable. For example, with Tensor we thought about every piece of the chip and customized it to run Google’s computational photography models. For users, this means entirely new features, plus improvements to existing ones. Tensor enables us to make the Google phones we’ve always envisioned — phones that keep getting better, while tapping the most powerful parts of Google, all in a highly personalized experience. And with Tensor’s new security core and Titan M2, Pixel 6 will have the most layers of hardware security in any phone.
Pixel 6 design details
In that same blog post, Osterloh explained the distinctive bar on the back of the phones. According to the senior VP, the improved sensors and lenses on the Pixel 6 are too big to fit into a standard camera array. Instead, Google decided to pack them all into a bar that stretches across the device. The Pixel 6 also has a matte aluminum finish, while the Pro has a polished aluminum frame.
As for other announcements, we aren’t sure what Google has in store. Recent reports suggest that the rumored Pixel Watch will not make an appearance at the event. Instead, we might see a new pair of Pixel Buds. There’s also a chance that Google could tease the Pixel Fold.
