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

kittyd

Considering there is no exact announcements on the Motorola phones yet, and the new with contract with trade in prices of 11th gen Pixel's are significantly cheaper than the previous generation in at least my country, it would be greatly appreciated if the Pixel 11 series would be supported by GrapheneOS.

MTE would be amazing to have, don't get me wrong. It is just for me not a deal breaker, compared to having to pay hundreds of euros more for a previous generation, or going without GrapheneOS which is definitely not an acceptable option for me.

In the long term, if the cooperation with Motorola goes well obviously a non-hostile manufacturer will be a great thing to focus at the center.

I fear doing that right now would be too quick, and skipping Pixel 11 series would be really unfortunate for the users who are at this moment refreshing their phone (I am coming from a Pixel 7 for instance), and can much more affordably and easily acquire them over previous gens.

Thanks to the team for the incredible OS!

kittyd

My Pixel 11 series is for now sitting in its box in my drawer, dreaming of the day it will be unlocked and setup with GrapheneOS <3

bimbam

kittyd
it's the same for me :D
my Pixel 11 is still in the unopened box, waiting hopefully

IksNorTen

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD The Pixel 6 and 7 predate MTE on Pixels entirely.
They were added before the requirement existed, and keeping them alive is about not stranding existing owners, not a precedent for new hardware. GrapheneOS already recommends against buying them anyway.

MTE has been a requirement for adding a new device since the Pixel 8 in 2023.

Wanting a 2026 flagship grandfathered in under conditions that applied to 2021 hardware isn't consistency, it's asking the project to accept a security regression.

And GrapheneOS has always told people not to buy a new Pixel until support is confirmed and shipping, precisely because bringing up a device takes time and can surface exactly this kind of surprise.

I'm sorry of your current disappointment but the GrapheneOS team isn't responsible of your choices.

user539

Sonic Well pixel 7 is still supported and it doesn't have mte. So maybe for some people that is enough. Example is people like me that has reboot timer set to 2 hours or less. So every or most attempts to unlock device will be in bfu. I still run pixel 7 and planned to get 11, now it is 10 or wait for Motorola.. Can you just answer will the Motorola be out before pixel 7 reaches Eol?

Titan_M2

kittyd You are better off returning it if you are in time and buying a Pixel 10.

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD

IksNorTen They were added before the requirement existed, and keeping them alive is about not stranding existing owners, not a precedent for new hardware. GrapheneOS already recommends against buying them anyway.

Said, while in effect stranding me. Either I would have had to by a different phone then or now.

wizoatk

user539 Well pixel 7 is still supported and it doesn't have mte

Supported, but not recommended.

user539 So maybe for some people that is enough.

Of course it's good enough for some people. It's probably good enough for most people. But the actual issue is if Pixel 11 without MTE is worth the development and support costs and what the Project really wants to spend time on at the present time or in the near future. There's lots of other things that could be worked on instead.

Sonic

user539 The Pixel 6 and 7 series are supported because GrapheneOS' security requirements didn't require MTE at the time. It would essentially be a rugpull to all Pixel 6 and 7 users if they immediately ceased all support before their official EoL dates. It's simply best to recommend the Pixel 8-10 series (which has MTE) over the older models to discourage new users from getting a less secure and private device.

The Motorola devices will be released sometime in 2027. According to the GrapheneOS FAQ, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will be supported until October 2027, with the 7a being supported until May 2028.

userofgos

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD Said, while in effect stranding me

No, it was your choice to buy the Pixel 11 prematurely. That's not GrapheneOS' fault.

IksNorTen And GrapheneOS has always told people not to buy a new Pixel until support is confirmed and shipping, precisely because bringing up a device takes time and can surface exactly this kind of surprise.

I'm sorry of your current disappointment but the GrapheneOS team isn't responsible of your choices.

kittyd

IksNorTen of course they are not responsible for it, neither am I saying Pixel 7 not having MTE is why they should support Pixel 11. Please read my message again.

I am indeed asking them to accept a security regression due to the gap between the previous generations and the upcoming Motorola phones.

@Sonic my backup plan will be to continue using my Pixel 7 and find a new owner for the Pixel 11 indeed. However, I was hoping to upgrade due to a variety of reasons you can imagine come up with an old phone, without having to pay hundreds more euros to buy a previous generation (with weaker security in the Titan chip, might I add).

de0u

xFmw4FSy7ZxqJ9hD Said, while in effect stranding me.

There is a difference between removing support for devices that were previously recommended (6, 7) and declining to support a candidate device that has never been recommended.

mpn

mpn Now they said they don't have it.

Google Support not present or being worked on for the Pixel 11 Pro or the Tensor G6; in fact, the Pixel 11 series omits hardware-level MTE support entirely.

and:

Google Support Google removed hardware support for MTE primarily as a deliberate cost, silicon-area, and architectural simplification trade-off.

Thank god I didn't open my Pixel 11 Pro. Guess it's being returned then 🤷.

Google cares so much about Gemini that I bet they'd much rather have Huawei dominate mobile if it lets Google "win the AI wars" than to implement MTE.

Fortunately there's Motorola. My next phone then would be either a GrapheneOS-enabled Motorola Signature/Razr, or if Moto makes a lemon, wait for an an iPhone 19 Pro. Well, maybe unless the Pixel 12 reinstates MTE.

GrapheneOS

kittyd bimbam You should return it while you still can.

de0u

mpn Is it feasible to post links to those statements?

de0u

To add insult to injury... this article suggests that MTE was left out of the Tensor G6 to make room for more AI hardware: "Google Removed Pixel 11 Memory Safety Hardware, Blocking GrapheneOS Port", Shannon Harwood, Tech Times (2026-08-31). At least a while back, Google had not provided API access to the TPU, so if that's still true then the die space went from something important to GrapheneOS to something unusable by GrapheneOS.

wizoatk

de0u
I presume @mpn is quoting from two preceding posts in this thread"

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/41564/106
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/41564/254

de0u

This article refers to allegedly leaked alleged internal Google documents indicating that MTE was removed from the Tensor G6: "Pixel 11 lost a security feature most people never needed, but the story behind it is wild", Bùi Giang, Notebookcheck (2026-08-31).

Bonus content in that article: rumors about a Motorola partner device!

atmos

GrapheneOS

In a similar position, except I've already tried to flash some builds onto P11. Does this mean that there will be no released pixel 11-series builds? Or still no official position yet, so to speak? Given how recently the hardware was released, the return window may be order of days at this point for the super-early-adopters.

Developer-Dude

atmos I'd return it now, since you have the chance to.

atmos I've already tried to flash some builds onto P11.

This won't work, as you probably found out.

atmos Does this mean that there will be no released pixel 11-series builds? Or still no official position yet, so to speak?

Anything is possible, but it seems very unlikely for the 11 series to be supported.

I don't speak for GrapheneOS

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