Android 12 beta continues to provide insight into Google's future hardware moves. The latest reports suggest that the rumored Google Pixel Fold may feature the exciting new Tensor chip.

Tensor is Google's new chipset that will be featured in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and promises many benefits, including enhanced AI and machine learning. Furthermore, if the Pixel Fold is powered by Tensor silicon, it suggests that Google's first foldable could arrive this fall.

There are several stages to this, so to backtrack a bit, it starts with a tweet from modder cstark27:

To decipher this, you first need to know that Oriole and Raven are widely believed to be codenames for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro Oriole and Raven are widely believed to be codenames for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Passport, on the other hand, is said to be Pixel Fold. These three devices and two other unknowns are connected by the use of the same modem (the "g5123b" hardware). This is most likely a Samsung chip, as the most recently used Samsung modem has nearly identical numbers.

If all the devices are using the same Samsung modem, it also seems likely that they are using the same main SoC - especially given the rumors that Samsung is deeply involved in the development of the Google Tensor chip.

This is exciting for two reasons: first, if the Pixel Fold uses the same Tensor chip as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, it will also enjoy what Google says are important advantages. That is enhanced security and the ability to process artificial intelligence and machine learning models on the phone itself, leading to "a transformed experience of the camera, voice recognition, and other Pixel 6 features."

The second reason is that if the Pixel Fold uses the same chipset as the Pixel 6, then it makes sense to launch at the same time. This could explain why Google has already revealed so much about the Pixel 6. The reason is that if the company reveals basic information about the more conventional handset in advance, it will have more time to talk about the foldable phone at the next event.

One could argue that there are some logical leaps here, but it is consistent with another reported timeline. Last month, The Elec reported that there would be no less than four unannounced foldable phones from Xiaomi, Honor, Vivo, and Google by the end of the year. The report claims that Google's order includes a 7.6-inch foldable screen, which coincidentally has the same dimensions as Samsung's recently revealed Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Of course, none of this is confirmed, not least because Google has yet to actually confirm the Pixel Fold's existence. However, if the above information proves to be accurate, we may learn more in the near future. We still don't know when Google's next event will be, but the company has said that the Pixel 6 will be available this fall.