As expected Intel is about to lose one of its big sellers, Chromebooks. Turns out that future models could rely on Snapdragon CPUs. One such example has just appeared, under the codename “Cheza”. It’s a 2 in 1 Chromebook with a Snapdragon 845 CPU.
We’ve seen Snapdragons on Windows 10 S machines and moving to Chromebooks seems logical. This “Cheza” will be a in 2 in 1 Chromebook with a detachable keyboard. There’s also a Chromium source code commit, that points towards the same device. Leaks and sources talk about it, as having a 2560 x 1440 pixel screen, plus there’s an USB Type-C port in the mix, for connecting an external screen, data transfer and charging.
Chromebooks have been available with Intel, Rockchip and MediaTek processors, but none with Qualcomm. It would offer extra choices, better battery life, plus LTE modem, which is something the other chips don’t bring. The Cheza Chrome OS device will end up as an “Always Connected” machine, with an eSIM maybe. Expect to use it as a laptop, tablet and regular detachable.
Not sure if Microsoft will be happy about this, since it cannibalizes their Windows 10 S /Windows on ARM machines. Since Qualcomm is rolling in cash, they may as well offer the CPU cheaper to the Chromebook OEMs, so the prices may be lower than we’ve seen lately (the latest Chromebooks have become very pricey sadly).
