Pixel 6-era Pixel Fold prototype leaks out, stylus support tested [Gallery]

Before launching the Pixel Fold in June of 2023, Google had been working on foldables for quite some time. The iteration just before that has now leaked, with this Pixel Fold prototype featuring a distinctly Pixel 6-era design.

In August of 2020, we reported that Google was working on a foldable called “passport” that would launch in Q4 of 2021 alongside what became the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Software evidence of that device appeared in several places, including the Android 12 Beta.

As that timeframe came and went, the references to foldables switched to a new name: “pipit.” We wrote at the time: 

It’s not clear what exactly changed, but this sort of mid-development codename change has happened before. For example the Pixel Slate was developed as “Meowth” when it was planned to run on Intel’s Cannon Lake processors. When those were delayed, Google rebuilt the Pixel Slate on older Intel processors as “Nocturne.”

According to Android Authority today, passport and pipit “were different projects at some point” but “they eventually converged into a single device,” with images of pipit emerging today. It was posted to the XDA forums and has since been removed. There’s only one high-res image of this Pixel Fold prototype:

Pipit looks nearly identical to the first-gen Pixel Fold except for a camera bar that matches the Pixel 6 generation. There’s a single piece of glass with metal rails at the top and bottom that spans edge-to-edge with a taper. It’s a cleaner, more consistent look than the direction Google ended up taking.

In terms of camera specs, we reported in November of 2021 that there would be two main lenses:

• “…instead of the new GN1 sensor, the Pixel foldable will have the same 12.2-megapixel IMX363 used since the Pixel 3, presumably as the main sensor.”
• “…Pipit foldable will feature a 12-megapixel IMX386 sensor that, if we can rely on the Pixel 6’s design, should be used for an ultrawide camera.”

That has been confirmed today. Android Authority reports that the same internal foldable screen/panel was retained across pipit and what eventually launched (felix). Google prototyped stylus support for the Fold that would have almost uncertainly impacted durability. 

In terms of other specs, pipit was powered by the first-gen Tensor (G1?) and Exynos Modem 5123 instead of the Tensor G2 and Exynos Modem 5300. It provides additional credence to the plan being to launch with the Pixel 6 series.