Google Pixel Fold design may have just leaked in Android 12L

(Image credit: Waqar Khan/Let's Go Digital)

The latest version of Android 12L may have revealed some secrets of the Google Pixel Fold, based on discoveries by 9to5Google.

Android 12L is an upcoming Android 12 update that's modified for better use with the best foldable phones and best tablets running Android. And in the new development version, beta 2, there are new illustrations to help users get accustomed to their new foldable, which look suspiciously like the rumored Pixel Fold.

We can see in the animations a foldable with a SIM tray on the bottom edge and a prominent button on the right side opposite the hinge. In the animation with the phone unfolded, we can see this is meant to be a book-style foldable as we expected the Pixel Fold to be, rather than a Galaxy Z Flip 3 or Motorola Razr 5G-style clamshell.

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Still frames from an Android 12L beta animation, showing an open foldable phone that may be the Pixel Fold — (Image credit: 9to5Google)

Also notable is the overall shape of the phone in these animations. The outline looks squarer than the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and more like the shorter Oppo Find N. Based on 9to5Google's measurements, the screen ratio shown in this image seems to match up with the rumored 7.6-inch inner display of the Pixel Fold.

Still frames from an Android 12L beta animation, showing a closed foldable phone that may be the Pixel Fold — (Image credit: 9to5Google)

Adding weight to the idea of these illustrations representing the Pixel Fold is that they are referred to within the OS' code as "Pipit", the codename that apparently replaced the original "Passport" monicker for the Pixel Fold. While these easily could have been just generic images to help users insert a SIM card, these Pipit references seem to suggest that's not the case.

An Android 12L beta animation, showing a closed foldable phone that may be the Pixel Fold — (Image credit: 9to5Google)

One thing we'll have to keep an eye on is if these animations actually make it into the final version of Android 12L. And we also have to accept that these animations, while seemingly bearing some resemblance to what we know of the Pixel Fold, could still be meant to represent a generic foldable, albeit a Google-ified one.

An Android 12L beta animation, showing an open foldable phone that may be the Pixel Fold — (Image credit: 9to5Google)

We've heard other nuggets of information about the Pixel Fold. It may use the same Tensor chipset as the Google Pixel 6, according to benchmarks found in the Geekbench browser, but it may feature an older camera set-up based on data in the Google Camera app.

Assuming the Pixel Fold has not been canceled (as some sources have suggested), we still have no real idea of when it could launch. Here's hoping for a 2022 reveal so Google can provide some competition for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.