Future Chromebooks, powered by Snapdragon 845
Earlier this month, Qualcomm introduced its next-generation processor to the upcoming wave of flagship smartphones. While also showcasing how snapdragon can power full day cellular-connected Windows laptops. A new report today suggests that Chromebooks will run in one day with the Snapdragon 845 processor.
Found in the chromium repository (via XDA-Developers) are various references to “chipset-qc845”. with the generic board for that chip codenamed “cheza”. While, the existing ARM-powered Samsung Chromebook plus is also referenced in the comments.
Since Chrome OS’s early days, there’ve only been a some of the devices that used an ARM chipset. The most of the Chromebook have been Intel-powered, though there has been an uptick in the past year. Acer’s Chromebook R13 uses a MediaTek processor. While the aforementioned uses the hexa-core OP1 processor made by Rockchip, but to guidelines and standards set forth by Google.
One reason why chips from the main ARM vendor haven’t been used with Chrome OS in the past is due to Qualcomm’s 2 years of driver support. As described by 2 ex-Googlers last year. This jives with the 5 years of software updates that Chrome OS devices usually strive for.
Surely, Qualcomm’s new work on Windows laptops with all-day battery life and LTE connectivity is a sign of things to come for Google.
