After several leaks and our own exclusive reporting, Google announced last month that it would debut its first self-designed smartphone chip in the Pixel 6 series later this year. Apparently, the company’s ambitions don’t stop there. Today, a new report claims that Google is also building chips for future Chromebooks.
Nikkei Asia reports that Google is developing its own chip design for Chromebooks that would replace CPUs provided by Intel, AMD, MediaTek, and other brands. The move was apparently “inspired” by Apple’s success with the M1 Mac.
Google’s new Chromebook chips would apparently be based on Arm designs, much like “Tensor” in mobile phones as well as the MediaTek and Snapdragon chips that are showing up in more Chromebooks. Apple’s M1 also has its roots in Arm.
Google was particularly inspired by Apple’s success in developing its own key semiconductor components for iPhones as well as last year’s announcement that it would replace Intel CPUs with its own offerings for Mac computers and laptops, two people familiar with Google’s thinking told Nikkei Asia.
Apparently, these new Chromebook chips from Google are on track to make their market debut sometime in 2023. The report mentions that the new chips could be used in both “laptops and tablets.” Google has not refreshed its self-branded Pixelbook lineup since 2019 with the Pixelbook Go, which remains on sale today with an Intel 8th Gen processor.
More on Chromebooks:
- HP unveils Chromebook x2 11 detachable w/ Snapdragon 7c, USI pen, & LTE from $599
- Microsoft will end Office app support on Chromebooks; web app lacks offline access
- Report: Chromebook growth hits the brakes in Q2 2021, still outperforms the industry
Author: Ben Schoon
Source: 9TO5Google
