Google Pixel Laptop Confirmed: What It Means for Android and Chrome OS

Yes, a Pixel laptop is coming and we have some very loose details. But what does this mean for Android? Because well, it ain't going to look good for Chrome OS. Let's get into it in this video. Firstly though, I need you to subscribe if you want more information on all things Google Pixel and Android and all of the good stuff that entails. It would really help me out. Cheers. Okay, so the big news is that yes, we are finally getting another Google laptop. This time though, it's likely going to ditch some things that we know about these kind of laptops Google's produced before. most likely that big Chrome OS portion and it's

going to be done so in favor of Android. There are some really cool things that could come from this. Namely, this is a firstparty device after all and it means we're finally getting a follow-up to the yes 7-year-old Pixelbook Go. And it is hard to believe in saying that out loud that the company behind Chrome OS more or less gave up on this hardware, Chrome OS hardware at the start of the last decade. So, yeah, it's not a great look. Let's be completely honest with you. However, there is some good that this could provide. Firstly, the fusion of Chrome OS and Android is something that we've talked about adnauseium here on the channel and at length for the past

few months. It's arguably the biggest shift in computing for Google outside of AI itself. Android has been the backbone for so much innovation over the past so many years. While Chrome OS has well, it's languished, hasn't it? This means that a Pixel laptop could be the perfect showcase for the form factor for a soft reboot for Google powered laptops. It's kind of like how the Pixel 6 was the new start for the Pixel phone brand. At least that's what I'm liking it to and I'm hoping it'll be the same here. We know that the Pixel Glow feature is going to be used across the Pixel 11 and this proposed laptop form. How it's implemented on a laptop is arguably going to be different from a phone. I

guess it could work like a notification LED type thing, but I'm wondering is that necessary? Um, with Android being very different from Windows, Mac OS, and even Linux desktop environments. I guess the bridging of these could be interesting as well. I'm speaking solely from my perspective, but I don't really like notifications beyond system level notifications when I'm using a desktop environment. I don't know how Pixel could benefit if someone or if it was used, as I mentioned just a few seconds ago. Yeah, is an interesting one and we're interested to see how Google will push this one. Surely though, there is some secret source to Pixel Glow that makes it more of a key component on the

Chromebook Pixel and the Pixel C. You might remember that these did have simple light bars to do things like check battery level. I'm wondering if this is enough utility for something like this, especially with Pixel Glow being a key component of the phones. Does that matter? Well, I'm not so sure. It could just be an extra selling point added to this device. Glowing lights are just not likely to be the key selling point for a Pixel laptop. No, this is likely going to be the first Android laptop out there, which I'm going to be honest poses so many extra questions that we've asked many times here already. So, we know Chrome OS is going away. We've known that for a little while, but what is going to change with

Android's desktop mode to make a laptop worth it as a purchase? Could this be a twoin-one detachable laptop that acts as a follow-up to the Pixel tablet and the Pixelbook in one thing? I would like to see that in some respects. For me, that would be really, really interesting. I don't really think I'll ever switch away from MacBooks for professional work unless Google can kind of show that we can get proper professional-grade software packages on the Android platform. I can see myself though using a Pixel laptop if I can detach it from a keyboard or something similar and then use it as a tablet for entertainment functions. But what is the killer functionality there? We already have

twoin-one Android tablets already. And while some are nice, they're not exactly gamechanging as is. Is Google going to do something more interesting with Gemini for the Pixel laptop? I mean, it would be pretty obvious at this stage, and it would be hard not to see the company try something new there. It also comes back to Chrome OS for a little bit because if you didn't know, Chrome OS has a few Gemini tricks to try and improve productivity, but again, I don't think it's really going to move the needle if you just want to edit Google Docs on the go. And yeah, they're not necessarily the most integral aspects of Gemini in this form factor. I'm actually struggling to see how Gemini can bridge

a fundamental capability gap that is present in Android versus other laptop level operating systems. I'm sure that we've seen the desktop mode on Pixel phones. It's and if you have used it, it's not truly representative of what you will be able to do. I'm pretty sure of that. That said, it's the only instance of a desktop mode or an idea of what a desktop mode will look like outside of Congress that we have. So, we're trying to be a little bit we're trying to work out the gaps and find out where Google is going to make these change. I'd like to see some optimizations that improve how well things run as is. I guess that this is something Android is able to do better than Chrome OS because you're just using

the entire Android stack and the updates are not just targeting a browser experience which effectively is what Chrome OS is. I'm also sort of hoping that Google doesn't fall into the iPad trap that Apple has done in the past few years with its own iPad line. Yes, the iPad does allow for some level of productivity work to be done with dedicated applications from the bigger developers like Adobe, but they basically only work on iPad and they're more or less gimped versions of those. Although that probably will be better than zero apps that exist right now such on Android and it is a really big catch 22 for Google and I'm intrigued to see how they're going to play this all out. Where I think the iPad suffers, and

that I hope doesn't affect a Pixel tablet and a Pixel laptop, is that it's kind of a halfway house. You're stuck between a phone and a last laptop and a desktop. Chrome OS is already in a similar position as is, so it isn't quite good enough for everyone out there to use, although it can be useful in lots of scenarios. I'm genuinely worried that this is going to be a really hard transition. So, I hope Google is ready with the Pixel laptop to go right out of the gate. I don't doubt it's been in the oven for a while. I just they need to make sure it isn't half cooked or halfbaked from the very get-go. And I could easily see Google going with a tent chip for the Pixel laptop, at least

this first iteration, as sort of disappointing as that may initially sound. Kind of makes a lot of sense. It might allow for some as yet unknown killer Gemini integrations. But that's not exactly great for power knowing what we know about Tensor as a platform. If we're talking about the G5 chip right now, because we don't necessarily have tons of information on the G6 and the Pixel tablet, if it were or the Pixel laptop were to use it, it would kind of sit around the lower mid-range i5 and Ryzen chips in terms of overall performance. I'm wondering if Google would forego Tensor in favor of something like a Snapdragon X Elite level chip for higher performance. I could see it, but I kind of wouldn't bet

on it at least at this stage. We know that Pixels are also positioned as the premium alternative to other smartphones out there. Doesn't necessarily take a rocket scientist to guess that the Pixel laptop is going to do the same. But the thing is, are people going to accept a potentially mid-range CPU for this form factor and maybe some teething issues with the OS? Um, I have to say this is going to be a really tough sell if that does actually happen right at launch. The main thing is that the Pixel laptop exists. It's coming. We don't know when, but I would personally wager that made by Google late this summer is a really good candidate for a full reveal. Google IO is coming thick and fast, and I think

it's where we're hoping to learn a lot more about Android or Android desktops development phase, at least for the desktop operation, and just see how things are coming along. A lot hinges on how that progresses and if some of our unanswered questions that I've posed here, get resolved. I'm wondering though if anyone's actually hyped for a Pixel laptop. It kind of feels like that was always going to be a thing. It was always something that Google working working towards, if that makes sense. A badly kept secret, I guess. Um, let me know what you think and if you're excited for a Pixel laptop down in the comments sections below. It is a different form factor for Google. Um, a

return, I guess, to a form factor that we don't know. Also, well, some of their first foray into hardware were laptop form factors with Chrome OS. But yeah, let me know what you think down in the comments sections below. But until next time and with more information hopefully, I'll speak to you later.