Google’s rumored Pixel Fold could have same camera hardware as the Pixel 5

By Michael Allison November 5, 2021

Google has reportedly been working on a foldable Pixel for next year, and new hints from Google’s Camera app, spotted by 9t05Google, could have just revealed some of the details of the camera hardware.

Going off of details hidden in the Google camera app, the Pixel Fold is now said to be code-named Pipit instead of Passport. This kind of change has happened before, including when Google swapped out the development platform of the Pixel Slate from Cannon Lake to Kaby Lake, so it is possible that a similar hardware change has happened here.

More interestingly, the camera hardware has been pegged as a pair of IMX363 and IMX386 cameras. The IMX363 would be the main camera, and it has been used previously in the Pixel series, from the Pixel 3 to the Pixel 5. The IMX386 would be an ultrawide camera only capable of being used when folded. Two other cameras would act as front-facing models and both would be 8MP IMX355, the same selfie cameras used in older Pixels. While old, these cameras are not particularly poor, and the Google’s Pixel 5’s sensors can keep up with even the iPhone 12.

A 2022 release date is seemingly confirmed by an “isPixel2022Foldable” reference in the code. As for how this could square with the Pixel Fold’s announcement in 2021, there’s a precedent in the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 6, as spotted by 9t05Google. For both of those devices, Google preannounced them and their selling points prior to their formal announcement, allowing developers a chance to start thinking about the new products.

The Pixel Fold being announced in — say — December, with a launch in March around the end of the Android 12L testing period, would be similar to the way Google rolled out the Pixel 6. With leaks and guesswork only likely to intensify, the more code for foldables existing in Android 12L, the better it would be for the company to tell its own story.

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