Assuming the rumors are true, Google’s answer to Apple One bundled service subscriptions also includes annual smartphone upgrades.
Get your salt shakers ready, because none of this is yet confirmed. But in the midst of the Pixel leak deluge we’ve watched unfold in recent weeks, This Is Tech Today’s M. Brandon Lee has a detail-filled Twitter thread that runs through a number of new details, the highlight of which is Pixel Pass.
“This appears to be a blend of the iPhone upgrade plan where you can get a new phone every year and the Apple One subscription,” Lee writes. He adds that the services side of the rumored Pixel Pass subscription includes YouTube Premium, Google One, and Play Pass. You also get some kind of extended warranty and some involvement from Google’s phone service option, Google Fi.
Based on a screenshot included with Lee’s tweet — the source of which isn’t clear, it should be said — Pixel Pass subscribers won’t be locked into Fi. Customers will also have the option of signing up through the Google Store to get a carrier-unlocked phone that works with any provider.
The only catch is that this offer may be available for U.S. customers only.
The thread also contains some details on color options for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, as well as info about a second-generation wireless charging Google Pixel Stand and some pricing speculation based on a leaked sweepstakes sheet. So it’s worth a closer look for Pixel users. But Pixel Pass is the big reveal here, assuming it’s real.
The past few days have delivered a pile of surprising and unintended Pixel reveals. On Friday, a video surfaced detailing the entire Pixel 6 assembly process. Then, just hours later, screenshots from an apparent accidental posting on a retail website brought new information about the upcoming smartphone’s cameras, battery, and more.
There’s still more than a week to go before Google is likely to make any of these details official. The big reveal event is set for Oct. 19. So stay tuned for more soon enough.
