Recently, at the #TheAndroidShow event, Google engineer Terence Zhang revealed details about why the standard version of the Pixel 8 won’t support Gemini Nano. According to him, the reason lies in “some hardware limitations.” This decision has perplexed many users, especially considering that its big brother, the Pixel 8 Pro, already got this technology after the last update in December.
This decision raises questions about whether these hardware limitations are justified. Considering that both the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro use the same Tensor G3 processor, the explanation that RAM capacity is the reason (8GB in the Pixel 8 vs. 12GB in the Pixel 8 Pro) seems unconvincing. Plus, we’ve already seen the Gemini Nano work on the Galaxy S24 with 8GB of RAM. And it works flawlessly on that device.
I think this could be a marketing move on Google’s part to make the Pixel 8 Pro more appealing to consumers interested in advanced AI features, especially given AI popularity.
I hope Google explains its decision more clearly and perhaps still finds ways to bring Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 in future updates.
