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I couldn't find a comprehensive history of all the features that have debuted on a new phone and then been allowed on older phones, but it's fairly common. 2 examples are listed here: https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-6-series-gets-pixel-7-...

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Yep, I expect most of these to make it to older pixels but probably not for a few months. There are some that probably require the newer Tensor G3 chip though, which can't be backported.

Not really, I have a Pixel 4a 5G that doesn't come with magic eraser but because I pay for Google One, they gave me access to it.

So I doubt there are really any limitations on the hardware themselves or that you absolutely need the new version. Google just paywalling the features.

I bet you all those will be available very soon for Google One subscribers.

Yes, but magic eraser is something that can be easily done off-device in the cloud. Real-time audio shaping cannot with introducing unacceptable latencies. There are no doubt some things they'll roll back to older Pixels, but they can't do everything new on this year's release without hardware.

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