Pixel 11: menys RAM i preus més alts? Què és oficial i què és filtració

Shrinkflation is the phenomenon, a product's gradually being reduced in size or quantity while prices remain the same or rise. This is the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL and if the leaks are to be believed, it'll cost $100 more than last year's equivalent while shipping with less RAM, fewer CPU cores and an older GPU. And this is the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, also set to cost 100 bucks more with the battery capacity receiving an unwelcome 265 milliamp power haircut. So, are we entering the era of shrinkflation in tech where buying the latest version of whatever you're upgrading from no longer guarantees that it'll actually be an upgrade in any meaningful way? Uh Google isn't alone in penny-pinching and shrinkflating certain key specs as the ongoing RAMpocalypse and component price crisis continues as we'll get into a little later in this video. But why is this such a weird year for Google hardware in particular and could all of this impact whether or not we see a Google-branded laptop in 2026? Let's get into it. As is required by law ahead of any Google Pixel launch, a large chunk of the spec sheet has already leaked out as have a bunch of CAD renders and pricing details as well. Happens every year and sometimes it's even Google itself doing the leaking. And ever since those earliest leaks, the picture's slowly been coming into focus of a generation that really feels more like a side grade at best starting right at the heart of these devices with the Tensor G6 SOC. It's reportedly got one less core than the Tensor G5 and a GPU architecture that's a generation behind the G5 as well. But this is one of those areas where the devil really is in the details though because while Google is reducing the core count in the G6, it's also skipping a couple of generations ahead in core design and subtly changing the way those cores are arranged. Instead of a pair of pretty sluggish Cortex A520s for the efficiency cores in the G5, it's using a beefier C1 Pro the same as its middle cluster only at a lower clock speed. And TLDR is that this means the G6 is likely to be faster overall even with seven cores instead of eight. And with the Tensor G6 reported to be among the first processors on the market to adopt TSMC's fancy new 2-nanometer manufacturing process, that could make up for any efficiency losses from not having any purpose-built efficiency cores. So, that's all well and good, but what about that supposedly ancient GPU? Well, reportedly it's sort of moving back a generation in terms of its architecture from PowerVR's DXT in the Tensor G5 to a PowerVR CX T-based model. That generation dates all the way back to 2021, which of course is ancient in tech terms. But again, Google appears to have a trick up its sleeve here, reportedly using a three-core configuration of that older design instead of the dual core of the new design in the G5. Why do this? Well, according to the manufacturer, DXT units offer 50% more compute performance than CX T. [music] So, Google likely wants to make up the extra performance difference by just slapping an extra core on the old design. But why even bother juggling around components like this if the result is just performance that's more or less the same as last year? Well, the key factor here is likely to be die space, the actual surface area taken up by the chip itself. It's a direct driver of cost, so losing one CPU core saves on space. So does that smaller CX T-based GPU with ray tracing removed. Leaked internal Google Tensor documents uncovered by Android Authority back in 2024 pointed Tensor chips routinely going over budget with the target of a $65 price for the SOC as a whole for the entire thing to be viable. So, the Tensor G6 just seems to be where the rubber hits the road in terms of Google really paying attention to how much these chips cost to make. It's also very on-brand for Google and Google Tensor. These chips have never been about crushing benchmark scores and have more been about giving users the right kind of performance in the right areas. And the new CPU core layout in particular could actually turn out to be better for sustained performance and battery life

than a more aggressive design with more cores. Those are two metrics there, longevity and endurance, that we know Google really cares about thanks to those [music] leaked internal documents from 2024. It also cares about money, of course, as we know from those same documents, and a smaller die size, which is the result of the GPU switcheroo and the reduced core count, is a big potential way to cut costs. All of this stuff with Tensor has been in the works for quite some time. So, it appears to really just be coincidence that we're getting this weird generational change in the Tensor SLC, going from Pixel 10 to Pixel 11. Nevertheless, it is 2026 and the RAMpocalypse remains a thing, and that's undoubtedly a huge factor in Google trimming the RAM numbers on many Pixel 11 Pro models. Pixel 10 Pros have 16 GB of RAM, of which 3 to 4 was ring-fenced just for its AI features. Pixel 11 Pros in the base 256 GB configurations most folks will be buying get just 12 GB for everything, and that could very well have an impact on the kinds of AI features Google can ship in this generation, or at least whether those features are running locally or in the cloud. This all comes as Google either eliminates the old 128 GB base models of various Pixel phones, or in the case of the 256 GB models, slaps them with a $100 price increase compared to the same model in last year's lineup. All of which results in a base model Pixel 11 Pro XL with the same storage and less RAM as last year, yet at a higher price. Textbook tech shrinkflation. Yet, if there wasn't an ongoing component price crisis, chances are you'd still have that oddball Tensor G6 design, only with Google sticking with 16 gigs of RAM base across the board. It's also a big deal that Google is reportedly switching to a MediaTek modem this year after years of using Samsung to power the Pixel's radios. The flagship M90 modem would hopefully represent a big boost to efficiency in an area that had been a major battery sink in earlier Pixels. It's a clear example of Google spending money smartly in one area that should give the new Pixels a battery life boost even if the batteries themselves are about the same capacity as before. The one exception though is the most expensive phone in the lineup, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, which according to the Amazon spec leak, is taking around a 5% battery cut, possibly to allow a thinner body in order to compete with the new slimmer foldables from the likes of Samsung. But of course, Google, unlike Samsung, isn't using silicon carbon batteries, so instead you're potentially just getting the lowest battery capacity in any phone of its kind this generation. And all while also having its price hiked by $100. It's not all doom and gloom though, Google's penny-pinching further up that bill of materials means it'll be able to ship new primary and telephoto sensors in the Pro Pixels though, details of sensor sizes haven't leaked just yet. And a long overdue possibly 50-megapixel class main sensor for the standard Pixel 11. Those are big, important, meaningful upgrades to the things that make a Pixel phone attractive to so many people. In particular, the 2024 document leak points to an ultra low-light video feature that may be some sort of local version of the Night Sight video feature that currently runs in the cloud, possibly enabled by this new camera hardware in addition to the new ISP in the Tensor G6. That would be a huge upgrade if it pans out. There are other things that could make a Pixel 11 feel new even if parts of the spec sheet are looking a little stale. The big one is Pixel Glow, the feedback LED system around back that will probably be some combination of a Nothing style decorative lighting system or the more informational lighting system that we've seen in some gaming handhelds over the years. Screen bezels are also looking slimmer, finally, in many of those leaked renders. And never underestimate the appeal of a more vibrant color palette, which seems to be on the way as well this year. So, 2026 was always going to be the year that Google finally cracked down on the cost Tensor SOCs with a push towards a smaller die size. It just so happens

this has coincided with an unprecedented rise in the cost of some of the components, most notably RAM, forcing Google and many other manufacturers to be stingy with their memory whilst nudging up prices more than we'd like. For its part, Google has confirmed that prices are going to be rising and that the RAM-pocalypse is at the direct cause in remarks made to 9to5Google quite recently. [music] Interestingly, executives also told the outlet that it's aggressively engineering its way through these challenges, including a dedicated effort to drive down Android's memory requirements to keep the same user experience while using less RAM. Whether you can make up a 3 to 4 GB memory deficit through efficiency alone isn't clear, but if Google can do it, then of course the entire ecosystem benefits. Although, Google certainly isn't alone here. Other gadgets like Samsung's just launched Fold 8 Ultra and Flip 8 have also been hit with a $100 price hike while RAM and storage remain static. And the situation is even more dire in the laptop world. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 used to cost $900 with 16 gigs of RAM. Now you're paying 950 for half of that. And with more 8 GB machines re-emerging from the wood work, Microsoft, like Google, has been forced to respond by trying to reduce the ballooning memory footprint of its OS. The ironic result then of AI gobbling up all the RAM is that your shiny new AI PC or AI smartphone suddenly has much less memory to spin its own AI tricks locally. All of which has me wondering whether we will actually see a Google-made Pixel-branded Googlebook laptop anytime soon. It's a challenging time to be selling consumer laptops and an even worse time to be a small boutique laptop maker targeting premium hardware segment, which is exactly where a Pixel Googlebook would be landing. As it stands, Google will have enough difficulty convincing the likes of Asus and Lenovo to stick it out with the Googlebook project if the first wave of products isn't an immediate success. So, as much attention as the Pixel 11 is getting in this context, the real victim here could be Google's long-term laptop OS ambitions. From certain angles, the Pixel 11 could seem like a downgrade in some areas, but that doesn't mean it won't be a better product overall. The camera changes in particular are what I'm most interested to see come August 12th. And although a direct RAM cut is hard to swallow, if Google can make Android more memory efficient as a result, then there could yet be a silver lining here. In my view, the Pixel 11 probably will feel like an upgrade overall. But, more interestingly, it's also a preview of how upgrades are changing. Instead of giving you more of everything, manufacturers are cutting the expensive components they think you won't notice, then leaning on software and efficiency to disguise the difference. Whether that counts as smart engineering or shrinkflation depends on whether 12 GB of RAM can genuinely feel like 16, and whether a better camera or modem are enough to justify paying more for less elsewhere. But, that's just my take. Let me know what you think over in the comments whether price hikes and RAM cuts are affecting your appetite for new tech. Stick around and subscribe for more, but for now, thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.