This week Google announced that 40 new Chrome OS devices are on the way this year, but the company didn’t provide details about specific brand names, models, or specs.
But it looks like the company may have inadvertently confirmed that at least one model will be an Acer Chromebook 511 powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c processor.
That would make it one of the first Chromebooks to feature a Qualcomm chip – something we’ve known would be coming for a while, but which hasn’t materialized yet.
So here’s the evidence:
- Google made a series of announcements involving Chromebooks for Education this week.
- One of those announcements was a “Learning with Google 2021” video posted to YouTube.
- At the 1:10:39 point in the video, you can see the image above which provides the name and code-name of a previously undisclosed Chromebook.
- Chrome Unboxed notes that the “Limozeen” code name matches a development board mentioned in the Chromium source code.
- While the source code I reviewed only points to an ARM-based processor, Chrome Unboxed seems fairly confident it will be a Snapdragon 7c chip.
- The design of the Chromebook shown in the image leads me to conclude that at the very least, the Chromebook will be a low-cost device (did you see the size of those bezels?) which makes the Snapdragon 7c more likely than a higher-priced chip.
- Acer has already announced it will be bringing a Chromebook with a Snapdragon 7c processor to market in early 2021 – but the upcoming Chromebook Spin 513 will likely be a slightly more expensive model due to its touchscreen display and 360-degree hinge.
We already know that the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 will have a 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, a $400 starting price, support for up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 7c processor and supports 4G LTE connectivity.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the Chromebook 511 will have a similar design and feature set, but a lower starting price since it’s a clamshell-style notebook (not a convertible) and since it’s designed for the education market.
Is Acer honestly STILL trying to move Chromebooks up into the traditional Windows notebook category? After all these years? I get it, Chromebooks in a managed educational institution has its merits. Anywhere else where individuals pay for their hardware? The market hasn’t been kind to them.
The whole point of the chromebook education scheme was to create a generation of kids who grew up on them, and as most people are tech illiterate, they’re scared to use anything outside of the operating system they were raised on. This mints loyal customers for life.
So of course they’re doing it after all these years! After all these years is where the chromebook generation starts to get to spend money on their own!
How well it worked is another matter but I’m sure it had some success. Otherwise there wouldn’t be such a massive push for game streaming that’s getting all the graphics cards before you can.
But this whole idea of a generation growing up on Chromebooks and scared of everything else scheme has been tried in only one country of the entire planet as far as I know.
Yeah, I suppose. And rethinking it, the more plausible explanation for the game streaming push is really “it’s for phones, stupid.”