Google switches from Samsung to TSMC — Pixel 10 and G5 use TSMC's N3P process

This week, Google introduced its Pixel 10 smartphone running its G5 application processor. The new smartphone offers higher performance, bigger batteries with faster charging, magnetic wireless charging, and seven years of software support. However, the most interesting part of the announcement is that Google switched the contract manufacturer of the processor from Samsung to TSMC. From that, what's perhaps more noteworthy is that Google allegedly switched to TSMC ahead of Apple, TSMC's alpha customer.

(Almost) Same phone

Both Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 handsets maintain a nearly identical look to their predecessors, with new finishes in Moonstone, Obsidian, Porcelain, and Jade. The flagship Pixel 10 Pro features a 6.3-inch LTPO OLED at a 1280×2856 resolution, while the beyond-flagship XL grows to 6.8 inches at 1344×2992.

The Tensor G5 is the central change in the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL. It is the first Pixel processor manufactured by TSMC, moving away from Samsung’s fabrication, which historically lagged in efficiency. This switch is expected to bring both higher performance and better power management.

In terms of raw numbers, Google says the CPU inside the Tensor G5 delivers a 34% speed increase compared to the Tensor G4. For AI-driven tasks, the improvements are even more substantial, with a 60% boost in performance. However, it's worth noting that this claim comes from Google, and there's no information provided about the data formats used.

N3P

It appears the chip uses TSMC's N3P (a performance-enhanced 3nm-class process technology) fabrication process, the most advanced foundry technology that currently exists. The motivation for Google's move may be that TSMC has consistently delivered stronger yields and more refined transistor designs at 3nm-class, enabling higher performance at lower power.

TSMC's N3P manufacturing process is an optical shrink of the N3E platform, offering tangible gains in performance, efficiency, and density while retaining full design compatibility, which is not the case for Google's IP.

In terms of performance, N3P provides about a 5% boost in speed at the same power levels, or alternatively a 5–10% reduction in energy use when maintaining the same clock rates. This balance gives designers a lot of flexibility in terms of either pushing for higher performance or optimizing for longer battery life and reduced thermal output, depending on product goals, which was perhaps Google's goal. The chip designer has likely achieved success, as the G5 powering the Pixel 10 is now in mass production.

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