In December, Qualcomm introduced what is arguably the most powerful mobile chip till date, the Snapdragon 845. The chip has since then made its way into a number of smartphones from various OEMs. Not just smartphones, the processor might soon be powering Windows laptops and tablets. So what’s next? A Chromebook, apparently.
About Chromebooks has spotted Chromium source code commits pointing to an upcoming Chrome OS device using the chip. The Chromium team has been coding away on the device, codenamed as Cheza, for the last several weeks.
Cheza Chromebook
Cheza is apparently a 2-in-1 Chromebook with a detachable keyboard, like the recently launched HP Chromebook x2. The Chromebook will be functionally similar to the new Microsoft “Always On PCs”. The Chromium code commits refer to a 2560 x 1440 resolution display (16:9 aspect ratio), or WQHD resolution. That’s the same resolution pane used on many recent phones such as the LG G7 ThinQ, OnePlus 6 and HTC U12+. However, the Snapdragon 845, coupled with the integrated Adreno 630 GPU, supports on-device resolution up to 4K UHD. So this resolution might just be for testing purpose only.
There might be two USB-C ports, with one of them supporting DisplayPort video out. but only one will have that feature. The USB Type-C ports can also be used for transferring data, and charging. And, most importantly, given the integrated X20 modem in Snapdragon 845, Cheza will have built-in LTE as well. So it’s highly likely that it’ll be an “always connected” device that lets you get online using mobile data when WiFi isn’t available. Note that Google’s also working on eSIM support for Chromebooks, so Cheza may not even need a SIM card.
We’ve seen Chromebooks with Intel, Rockchip, and MediaTek processors in the past, but never in a Qualcomm processor. Cheza will be the first, that too using the very best Qualcomm Processor available. So expect a solid performance. Google, meanwhile, has recently been beefing up the Chrome OS, and has a number of features lined up for future updates as well. So who knows, Chromebooks might be the all in one computer you’ll ever need.
