Pixel 7 leaks show Google finally has a stable phone business

The Pixel 6 is only a few months old, but the first leaks about the design of the Pixel 7 are already here. Google appears to have sent CAD files to the case industry recently, as Steve Hemmerstoffer (aka OnLeaks) and David Kowalski (aka xleaks7) posted renders of the Pixel 7 today.

These unofficial rendering leaks are usually based on measurements that Google has to send to third parties in order to get accessories (like cases) ready for their release date. This means that the shape of everything must be accurate to the millimeter, but finer details (such as materials, colors, or the placement of camera lenses inside the camera unit) can still be up in the air.

Having the same hardware designs year after year is the standard for most professional hardware manufacturers. But we’re talking about Google, so this level of stability and consistency is actually a milestone. Previously, Google’s phone hardware efforts were so erratic year after year that this level of consistency was impossible.

The Pixel 1 XL was created by HTC and the Pixel 2 XL by LG, so the phones had almost nothing in common. With the Pixel 3, manufacturing moved to Foxconn, as with the iPhone, and also in 2018, Google made a $1.1 billion deal to buy most of HTC’s smartphone design team. The following year, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL phones became the first releases since the Pixel 1 to look like a pair of devices. Google then chose to skip the flagship smartphone market for the Pixel 5. The move from the Pixel 6 to the Pixel 7 seems like the first cycle of Google’s flagship phones where it didn’t reboot and start from scratch. This is progress! It may be slower progress than anyone expected from a nearly $2 trillion company, but it’s progress.

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The camera block detail in these early renders is always the shabbiest, but both renders show really large lens openings that could indicate upgraded camera hardware. Again, updating camera hardware every year is par for the course for most manufacturers, but this will be a big maturation point for Google’s hardware, which previously redesigned the Sony IMX362/3 sensor in the Pixel 2, 3, 4, and 5. Google appears to have moved the window mmWave to the top edge of the phone on both models. The window is currently a large plastic cutout in the middle of the phone, but these renders have the window moved to the side.