We’ve seen Chrome OS laptops powered by Intel processors, Samsung Exynos chips, NVIDIA Tegra chips, and Rockchip RK3288 processors. Pretty soon it’ll stop being noteworthy when a Chromebook ships with a new type of processor (although we have yet to see one ship with an AMD chip).
But for now, it still feels kind of noteworthy that MediaTek is showing off a Chromebook prototype at Computex. The Taiwanese chip maker says we should expect to see Chrome OS laptops featuring its chips soon.
The prototype is a non-working device that doesn’t do much more than give us an idea of what a laptop looks like when you slap the Chrome logo on the lid.
But MediaTek did tell the folks at PC World a little bit about the Chromebook’s specs. It’s said to feature a 64-bit MT8173 quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor with PowerVR GX6250 graphics, and a UCB Type-C port, among other things.
That port could be used to either charge the laptop, or to connect external devices such as flash drives, a mouse, or other hardware.
There’s no word on how much a Chromebook with a MediaTek processor will cost or exactly when you’ll be able to buy one. But MediaTek’s chips tend to be used in low-cost smartphones and tablets. There’s every reason to think a MediaTek-powered laptop will be cheaper than, say, a Google Chromebook Pixel 2.
Update:Â Notebook Italia also got a look at the MediaTek Chromebook and has more photos, plus a video of a model that does appear to be working.
My video of it is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeFTISphCsE
Sounds like an interesting one.
That quad A72 should pack a punch compared to the current Rockchip (RK3288) Chromebooks.
The USB type-c connector would finally start resolving the one-type-of-brick per laptop problem. I would be happy to install a generic charger at work/home for the laptop + phone + everything-else and not hauling them with me all the time.
All in all, it will be a Chromebook to consider.
That video is odd. He specifically says (and the card says) type C connector. But the connectors do not look like type C. It is a dark little area so maybe the actual shape is just kind of hidden in the shadow of it.
He also states that you can charge it through the type C – as would be expected. However the entire time it is plugged in to what looks like a standard power supply cable/port. What the hell?
As said. It’s a prototype. They probably have plans to use Type C but are just using a standard traditional charging port for the prototype. Kinda dumb to demo it that way, but the Mediatek chip is probably more of what they’re demoing here rather than Type C connectivity.