Google will release the next Android security update on Monday, which as usual will close numerous gaps and fix problems. It has long been routine, but it is still eagerly awaited if and how long Pixel 6 users will have to wait this time. It is becoming increasingly clear that the delays are related to the Tensor chip, which is being used for the first time in this generation of smartphones.
The update promise has always been one of the greatest strengths of pixel smartphones and has been kept in recent years without any major problems. Only very rarely did users of certain models have to wait a few days or even hours longer. But there has never been a situation like that with the Pixel 6 smartphones: two weeks of waiting for updates, updates withdrew, updates skipped and three months after the start of sales there is still no rhythm.
After the biggest stumbling blocks have been cleared, a punctual update is expected for February. So “on time” in the sense of immediately and without long waiting times compared to the third to fifth-pixel generation. It should suit Google that the update is only scheduled for February 7th and thus the maximum possible period since the last update is available (it always comes on the first Monday of the month).
But what is or was it actually that Pixel 6 users had to wait so long for the updates in the first few months with their new smartphone? The suspicion is that the Tensor chip is the main reason because it is the biggest change since the launch of the Pixel smartphones and at the same time the heart of the device. With a view to the timely updates of the other Pixel smartphones, it can’t be due to Android 12.
AndroidPolice speculates with many good arguments that it is due to Tensor. Or more specifically what Google calls “tensor”. As is well known, the new SoC is based very heavily on Samsung technology and is 90 percent an Exynos processor with a Tensor layer placed over it – roughly speaking. But Samsung has always had problems with its own Exynos chips and it is not without reason that it very often relies on the services of Qualcomm with its Snapdragon chips based on the ARM architecture.
Google is said not to have been prepared for the fact that Samsung needed longer for driver updates than Qualcomm was used to. Security gaps and bugs at the SoC level are not uncommon and have always been the largest block of security updates for Android. Samsung won’t be any different, but the company, despite its size, has fewer resources and experience than Qualcomm. So you need more time and let Google wait. But Google still has to put its tensor components on top of it – and that takes time.
Of course, you could solve the problem by not filling some gaps until a month later, but that can’t be effective. After the delays of the last few months, you will probably have a hotline to Samsung and now make sure that the situation improves. Ultimately, Samsung also benefits from this with its Exynos line. We will know on Monday evening whether it has already worked out this month.