Chromebooks lost their chance to shine

Chromebooks have held an interesting place in the laptop market over the past decade. Yes, they became the go-to option for schools — cheap, easy to administer, and durable machines that could take a beating.

But they had a secondary demographic in people just looking for a highly efficient laptop. Because of how light of an operating system ChromeOS is, Chromebooks led the charge in quiet, long-lasting laptops, even before the modern MacBooks came out to champion that cause.

With the launch of the Qualcomm-based Copilot+ Windows laptops, however, it’s increasingly feeling like premium Chromebooks have lost their chance to really stand out — and that’s a shame.

Efficiency matters

When it comes to the best laptops, few things matter more than efficiency. Everyone wants a laptop that is not only fast enough but also quiet, cool, and long-lasting. Although Chromebooks were often sold as just cheap student laptops, enthusiasts knew they had a secret weapon. The efficiency of the systems allowed them to gain a reputation for having better battery life than either of their counterparts — at least, before 2020. Chromebooks were ahead of the game, and yet, they were still primarily known as disposable student devices.

Google’s attempt at changing the perception of Chromebooks was always a bit half-hearted. If you know the culture of Google, that’s not going to come as a surprise. The most serious attempt to change the conversation was in 2017, with the launch of a Pixelbook. This was a device I was quite fond of at the time, despite its oddities and shortcomings.

To me, it wasn’t worth $999 at the time, but it presented an exciting if unrefined new direction for computing devices. But it ended up being a one-off rather than the start of a new movement. After all, paying $999 for a Chromebook still felt a bit insane at the time. There were too many limitations around app compatibility, and Google never made the case the Pixelbook was anything more than an experiment.

Google did follow it up in 2018 with the ill-fated Pixel Slate and then the 2019 Pixelbook Go, but by never delivering another high-end model, Google was conceding to the current perception of the Chromebook. It no doubt seemed like a wise decision to let the momentum die down and let Chromebooks continue their more modest position in the market.

That is, until Apple announced and delivered its transition to its own Arm-based Apple Silicon. The MacBook Air was the epitome of what made the transition so monumental, nearly doubling battery life in these devices without costing a single cent more. Not only that, but they were also quiet, cool, and fast. They were everything premium Chromebooks could have been.

Even that seemed fine though, especially since Chromebooks could still be offered as a non-Apple alternative that valued efficiency and simplicity. But alas, Chromebooks can’t even say that anymore.

A hole in the market

This year marked one of the biggest moments in Windows history with the adoption of Snapdragon X in the Copilot+ PC line. The laptops in this line are huge moves forward in allowing Windows devices to compete with MacBooks. Battery life and efficient performance are the name of the game, and these laptops have it in spades.

From the looks of it, there’s already been a positive sales response — and that’s even considering the flop that was Recall, its primary AI feature. People care about battery life and efficiency. And now that both Windows and Mac have both solved that problem, the window for Chromebooks to be sold on that alone has closed.

There’s little room for a third competitor to sell laptops around this price, especially not one that can’t run all the apps you might need.

Now, it should be said that Google hasn’t given up entirely. The latest iteration of the premium Chromebook idea was relaunched in October of 2023 under the banner of Chromebook Plus. These Chromebooks have faster processors and better screens, and they even have some new AI features to boot.

But ultimately, they feel more like attaching a marketing label to something that already existed — not anything terribly new. It’s a good idea to distinguish these Chromebooks from the rest, but there aren’t the exciting new designs to emphasize what makes them special. They’re missing the buoy of first-party support — such as a new Pixelbook. It’s something Microsoft did so well with the new Surface devices in the Copilot+ line, and the lack of support from Google hardware is telling.

I love the idea of a third option to break up the duopoly of high-end Windows and Mac laptops. But for now, that seems more distant of a fantasy than ever before.