Pixel 11 doesn't meet the GrapheneOS security standards and may be skipped

gosu

grayway2
Google Store in an European Country:
There are only two Pixel 10 Pro available: Obsidian 128GB for 999EUR and 1TB for 1489EUR.
Everything else is sold out.
The Pixel 11 Pro 256GB is atm buyable for under 799EUR (trading in a Samsung S3 Neo or Google Pixel 1 or another old phone).
The first Motos which will be available (whenever they are coming) will be (much) bigger than 6.3" and probably more expansive.
Not everybody likes second hand.

SplatterGames

gosu if you're in a European country I bet you have a LOT of retailers/resellers available. At least that is the case for Germany. There's like 100 shops selling brand new Pixel devices (cheaper than Google of course).

FunkTastic

SplatterGames I bet you have a LOT of retailers/resellers available

All of them source the goods from very limited count of wholesale players.

SplatterGames

FunkTastic it doesn't matter where they source them, as long as they have their own stock. Which many still do.

gosu

FunkTastic
cheapest reseller price for Pixel 10 Pro:
128GB - under 700EUR
256GB - almost 1000EUR, only a few retailers left
512GB - 1000EUR, almost sold out at all, only a few secondhand retailers sell new devices
1TB - about 1100EUR, almost out at all, only a few secondhand retailers sell new devices

GrapheneOS

Pixel 10a is still being sold if people want a new device. It has a worse display and cameras but it's not a bad device. CPU is a bit slower than a Pixel 10 or Pixel 11 but not by a large amount. It arguably has a better GPU than the Pixel 10 and Pixel 11 since it stuck with the previous SoC with the Mali GPU instead of the poorly received PowerVR GPU. It has the same cellular radio as the regular Pixel 9 and 10 devices which is pretty good. It has most of the 7 years of support remaining and MTE.

de0u

grayway2 That approach was a good way to get significant discounts across several Pixel generations. But the Google of 2025 and 2026 is not the Google of 2020 when it comes to AOSP. The old ways are no longer reliable.

otterfoghornrainfall

gosu I'm not sure that price with trade-in is a fair comparison to price without trade-in. What is the Pixel 11 Pro 256GB going for standard?

Foggy

I think the more interesting question is what happens with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5. As that rolls out to more phones, it's possible there will be more phone models supporting MTE available. Of course there are some hurdles there, namely non-unlockable bootloaders, broken firmware and lack of vendor support. But if Google has started treating open source for Pixels like some 'landfill Android' phone maker (Google Drive source dumps and all) then maybe some OEMs will turn out better than Google.

Time will tell. I wouldn't panic yet, although if you're wanting a new phone in the next 0-2 years it may be worth going for the 10a or getting another 10 series to cover the gap until Motorola phones are available and/or have depreciated from their launch prices. But also don't forget refurbished, which remains available even after Google have removed models from sale - and some refurbished phones are in 'like new' condition.

'Rumor' sites are saying the 11a will get Tensor G6, for whatever they're worth - so probably not worth holding out for it.

Quettaraka

Great thread, full of useful informations. Thanks to all, and to @GrapheneOS for transparency and uncompromised dedication to its users security.

I bought a Pixel 11 Pro, after a year with an iphone 16 (shame on me! I switched because I was very unsatisfied with my Pixel 6 [although grapheneos on it was great, as it was with the Pixel 3 I had just before, and the Nexus just before!] and wanted to try something new), and was ready to install grapheneos on it and keep it for as long as possible... Well, I should have waited a bit! I already sent it back, and will get a Pixel 10 pro and install grapheneos on it as soon as I get it.

GrapheneOS

Quettaraka That's the right choice since even if we added Pixel 11 support, it won't be as good. It will likely end up being slower and with worse battery life in addition to being less secure. We wouldn't want to entirely lose the security benefits of memory tagging so we'd need to consider using HWASan in the kernel and elsewhere which has 2x CPU overhead. HWASan could provide the benefits of MTE at great cost for certain parts of the OS but unlike MTE, it cannot be used for code we don't build ourselves including user installed apps and userspace driver/HAL code since AOSP removed that code for Pixels in Android 16.

LazLado42

grayway2 I will pay you $100 if you can find me a new unlcoked pixel 10 with 512 GB in the US. My six is bricked. I can't wait, especially since we don't have an announced time or price for moto.

bimbam

gosu
I already bought one Pixel 11 since with the trade in for me was cheaper than the Pixel 10. Let's see what happens, if there will be no GOS available for the 11, I will just do my best to debloat it and use anyway.
Unfortunately I can not consider returning the new phone.

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD

I had/have a Pixel 6 and it sounds like it didn't have MTE. I kept it for the 5 years it would receive updates and in about a month it gets no more updates GrapheneOS or otherwise, so I bought an 11. And now there will be no GrapheneOS for it because it doesn't have MTE?

I can understand it may have been a good security feature for whatever Pixels had it in between, but if it was not so critical that its absence forced you to stop producing builds for the 6 I don't see why it precludes you from doing it for the 11. Especially when it sounds like from all else you said GrapheneOS on an 11 would be more secure than what I had on a 6 and I fail to see how that's not a positive for someone like me upgrading from a non-MTE version to another non-MTE version.

You could still argue you don't recommend it over the 10 because it lacks MTE in spite of other enhancements, or try to educate people on the trade offs between MTE, Titan M3, and other features, however I struggle to see that the argument of GrapheneOS on Pixels being dead purely over MTE makes much sense given its absence on other supported models. Doubly so when there are only vague 2027/2028 dates being given for a Motorola release.

SplatterGames

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD
The main problem (I am not speaking for the project) is the difficulty that was introduced by Google with the Pixel 10 series a year ago, where supporting a new model takes substantial amounts of resources, because of missing device trees that have to be reverse engineered basically.

The decision to be made is pretty straightforward: invest a bunch of time to support devices that are a security downgrade from the previous generation or just skip them altogether and focus on the upcoming Motorola phones?

I can totally understand why support for Pixel 11 may never come. Aside from the fact that you would have to explain to the user base that newer doesn't equal better, as it always has, historically.

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD given its absence on other supported models

The amount of work required to keep these going, despite the lack of MTE, is far less than supporting new devices properly for 7+ years.

GrapheneOS

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD We never gave a 2028 date for the initial Motorola flagship. We've quite clearly said it will be in 2027. Early on, before we knew the Motorola Signature (2026) wouldn't provide MTE and several smaller requirements, we said it might be late 2026 but that it would probably be 2027.

Syberkonda

GrapheneOS will non-folable devices be available in the US? We don't get the Motorola Signature here, not sure if its successor will be here either

Quettaraka

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD I understand your point, but, if I may, that is retrospective analysis: MTE on Pixels was introduced after the Pixel 6, and you seem to judge its security as if it was a choice not to use it. As soon as some useful technological option becomes available (and more: becomes a cybersecurity almost game changer) and is used for years, it is perfectly logical to question whether to accept such a regression or to deem it unacceptable. In this case, we are not talking about some minor, "nice to have" feature, but one that changed for the better how to protect an OS against memory attacks.

grayway2

LazLado42 https://www.cdw.com/product/google-pixel-10-pro-2025-512-gb-obsidian-android-smartphone/8494802

Now : https://grapheneos.org/donate

Thanks !

KoelnischWasserAlkoholiker

I think it just comes down to how much work it is to support the Pixel 11, now and in the future, as a stop gap until the Motorola devices are out.
Would be nice to have some overlap between new Motorola and new Pixel, just in case Motorola isnt available in some markets or as resilience if there are issues with governments banning or restricting Chinese(Motorola) phones.

And I think Pixel 11 support would be awesome in case all 'old' Pixel devices are sold out. But all that is just nice, if it takes too much effort the next line of phones should have prio.

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