Ahead of the Pixel 9 keynote on Tuesday, Google has posted the livestreams for Made by Google 2024, with the Android channel on YouTube also broadcasting it.
Since the early event was announced in June, Google has emphasized the role of Android and Gemini at this upcoming Pixel event. It reflects how Google this year merged the Android (Platforms & Ecosystems, including Chrome) and hardware (Devices & Services) teams into Platforms & Devices, with Rick Osterloh leading.
Of note this year is how the Android YouTube channel will also be livestreaming the #MadeByGoogle ‘24: Keynote: “Watch now for updates on Google AI and the newest Pixel devices, including the #Pixel9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.”
There’s an identical stream on the Made by Google channel, which is the usual home and has more subscribers at 1.64 million subscribers (versus 1.03M). MbG is also responsible for the:
Last year, the main Google channel (12.2 million subscribers) also mirrored it.
Meanwhile, you’ll find a live countdown at the top of the Google Store.
The Made by Google 2024 keynote starts at 10:00 a.m. PT on August 13 or 3:00 a.m. AU Time. This will be streamed live from the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. It will be followed by an “After Party.”
One of the core pillars of Google’s first Tensor-powered Pixels was value. By delivering much of the same hardware features at a lesser cost, the deficiencies of Google’s chip could be overlooked relatively easily. Over time, though, prices inevitably went up, peaking with last year’s Pixel 8 at $699 and Pixel 8 Pro at $999.
This year, those prices are expected to go up by around $100 across the board, with a $1,000 Pixel 9 Pro offering a smaller but equally capable alternative to the (likely) $1,100 Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Despite the many Pixel leaks this week, though, we still don’t have confirmation of US pricing for the entire lineup – just the Pixel Watch 3 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
But why are they going up? In terms of hardware design, the Pixel 9 series is certainly an upgrade in some ways, but new devices generally don’t bring an upcharge for design alone unless there are material changes, and none of that is expected. The displays are getting better across the board, but that’s also not something that usually comes with a price bump. Starting storage totals are supposedly unchanged, and Google is still set for 7 years of updates, which was arguably the biggest reason last year’s price bump didn’t sting all that much.
There are some more meaningful upgrades at play. The cameras on the Pro series are better, with a much higher-resolution selfie camera and a better sensor for the ultrawide on the back too. The existence of the smaller Pixel 9 Pro on its own is also a welcome addition to the lineup for many who were starved for a capable but smaller device for years. Tensor G4 in itself isn’t a big upgrade, but rumors of free-for-a-while satellite connectivity and the better modem should be meaningful additions as well.
But I do think there’s one very tangible upgrade that a lot of people are overlooking, and that’s memory.
According to leaks, Google is equipping the entire Pixel 9 series with more RAM this year. The base Pixel 9 will allegedly ship with 12GB of RAM, while the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL (and Fold) will get 16GB of RAM by default. 16GB of RAM is a total that was unheard of just a few years ago, and is still exceedingly uncommon for most smartphones, especially in base configurations. For comparison, Samsung’s $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn’t have a 16GB variant, and certainly doesn’t offer that in its base model. Looking at the Galaxy S24 series as a means of comparison, 12GB and 16GB really does eclipse Google’s primary competition, as the base Galaxy S24 only have 8GB of RAM.
The reason for this is most likely for the sake of AI, as on-device AI tends to rely heavily on plenty of memory. But, even if AI isn’t something you’ll use frequently, that additional memory should provide a boost to overall performance in day-to-day tasks, and that excess memory will be very useful in the years to come as AI constantly changes the focus of our phones. It should also prove helpful through the near-decade of software support these phones are getting.
I do think Google should have gone ahead and also upped the base storage to 256GB alongside that change, but effectively upping the RAM by 25% or more is quite an impactful change, and one that I think does ease the sting of higher pricing, at least in my book. It does sound like pre-orders will come with boosted storage, though.
What do you think?
Now, the other question that begs to be asked here is that if the Pixel 9 Pro Fold isn’t getting a price increase despite it’s much longer list of additional upgrades, why are the other models? And I think the reasoning here is obvious. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, like the Pixel Fold before it, is expensive, and at such a high price, it’s really hard to justify an increase. Google’s Pixel Fold should have been cheaper, but based on everything we’ve heard about the new one, the sequel actually seems somewhat worthy of its price – maybe, we’ll see.
Ahead of their expected launch later this year, the wallpapers for the entire Google Pixel 9 series have leaked with a new “Swirling Petals” theme, and hinting at the color variants available.
Each year, Google’s new series of smartphones brings a new theme to its series of wallpapers. Last year, it was minerals. This time around, as reported by Android Authority, the Pixel 9 series will bring “Swirling Petals.”
This new series of wallpapers has a trippy translucent look that has petal-shaped blobs of color around the screen. The colors have plenty of contrast, but they’re not particularly vibrant (as if often the case with default wallpapers). As usual, there are light and dark versions of each wallpaper.
The series is split into four different devices. Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The four-device flagship series is a new approach for Google, and will mark the largest number of devices launched at one time. Google’s Pixel Fold successor was originally expected to launch earlier in the year, as the original debuted in June, but with Tensor G4 under the hood, it increasingly looks like we’ll see this device debut later in the year.
The leaked wallpapers also hint at four color variants for Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro’s, with only two options for Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These would line up with Google’s Pixel 8 series, though the fourth color option, “Mint,” didn’t debut until later on.
You can see the full set of wallpapers below. The whole set in full-resolution is being hosted on Google Drive.
Amid new leaks of the Pixel 9 this week, there are many still asking Google for a “Mini” device, forgetting that small phones are dead.
Over the past decade, smartphones have gotten really big. Where the average phone used to be tiny by modern standards, many of us are basically walking around with tablets nowadays – in some cases literally, thanks to foldables. But as phone screens have settled into the realm of 6-7 inches in size, there’s always been a vocal group of those asking for smaller smartphones.
And, repeatedly, it’s been clear that small phones are essentially dead.
One recent reminder of this has been the Asus Zenfone 11, which tacked an “Ultra” onto its name and super-sized the package, doing away with what was the last flagship-tier Android phone with a screen size under 6-inches. It came as no surprise as, realistically, a small phone was just never going to survive in today’s market. The Pixel Fold, too, had a very small outer display that was a pleasure to use, but Google is moving away from that on the sequel.
The people have spoken, and they overwhelmingly prefer big phones. Heck, if Apple can’t make a “Mini” work, no Android manufacturer is going to do so, Back in 2022.
Amid new leaks of the Pixel 9 series which have revealed that Google will have three devices to choose from, there are some still asking for a “Mini” in Google’s lineup. Don’t think it’s ever going to happen, not just because the market doesn’t exist for it, but also because, for most people asking for small phones, the Pixel 9 series is already going to be pretty close to what they’re asking for.
The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro are both expected to be on the lower end of 6-inch displays, with both devices apparently measuring in at 152.8 x 71.9 x 8.5mm. That’s only a hair bigger than the Pixel 8, which our Abner Li praised for being the “small phone of my dreams” in a review last year.
And, really, think that’s about a small as a modern phone should be. The vast, vast majority of people are going to be thrilled to get a flagship-tier experience in a device that size, because it does a good job of splitting the difference between something truly “small” like, say, an iPhone 13 Mini, and something that’s big enough by modern standards.
In short, that “Pixel Mini” you’re dreaming about will (probably) never happen, so let’s just be glad that it looks like we’re getting a full-featured “Pro” that’s smaller.
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