After pioneering custom silicon in previous Pixel models, Google could ship its own mobile microprocessor as soon as this year in the Pixel 6.

News of the Google processor, called GS101 for “Google Silicon 101” and codenamed Whitechapel, comes via 9to5Google, which says that it has seen internal documentation describing the plans. GS101 has been co-developed with Samsung and could power both Pixel-branded handsets and Chromebooks.

The first phones based on GS101 are codenamed “Raven” and “Oriole,” and they could be released together in the second half of 2021. I’m hoping that these names represent the Pixel 6 and 6 XL as opposed to the Pixel 6 and 5a.

Regardless, Google moving past Qualcomm for its own devices is interesting. And given the push to the middle of the market last year with the Pixel 4a family and Pixel 5, I’m wondering now if the GS101 is more about saving money than it is about performance. Certainly, one shouldn’t expect the GS101 to compete with Apple Silicon, at least on benchmarks.