The new changes to Chromium Gerrit seem to indicate that Google's Pixelbook may steer clear of Intel if the company ever plans one ad at this year's hardware event.
The commitment recently spotted in Repository, on its surface, is a simple blueprint for the components that will be removed from Chrome OS devices in the future. Mainly, it refers to pre-used hardware that is actually outdated but comments in the code specifically mentioned Intel's 10nm Ice Lake series is still under development. These devices have since been removed, but this means that neither Intel Lake nor Intel Cannon Lake processors will be used for Chrome OS.
These new commitments follow Google's apparent decision to switch work to support Intel Tiger Lake processors on the platform, a business that began last week as the chips themselves are expected to land sometime next year.
What does this have to do with "Pixelbook 2"?
Google recently revealed that it has ditched both Android tablets and Chrome OS but made it clear that it's not finished yet in laptops and 2-in-1 arenas. This means that sales of Pixel Slate, which aren't really impressive, will likely drop while The original Pixelbook convertible laptop is 2 years old.
In Chromebook terms, this means it's still an exceptionally good device, but flagships like the Pixelbook should be better, with newer components and features.
Therefore, it is not reasonable to assume that the next 2-in-1 laptop with the Google brand will arrive sooner rather than later and hints of the temporarily dubbed Pixelbook 2 appeared in Geritor and disappeared from the last year or so also adding strength to speculation. Among those changes, changes to the code and comments indicated that it could support fast charging up to 60W.
The problem with this theory is that both Google's Pixel Slate and Pixelbook are actually using the same device with slight improvements in favor of the newer and widely criticized Chrome OS device. Improved charging and maybe a better battery aren't enough to make a brand new Chromebook, especially when every other Chromebook OEM competes with the same level of processing, memory and storage.
Enter AMD
Google could eventually stop processing Intel's Tiger Lake processors before the release of the next-gen Pixelbook 2. This would leave the original tool for about three years before it reaches end-of-life and stops receiving automatic updates - allowing existing users Ample time to plan an upgrade.
However, there's another distinct possibility as well, thanks to another recent addition to the Chromium Repository. That's the arrival of high-end AMD Ryzen chipset on Chrome OS in April.
AMD and Intel have a long history of rivalry, and it's usually done frequently with regard to chips that can really be called "better". So it might be the case that Google added Ryzen as part of the process of getting it started in the next iteration of the Pixelbook.
This could pave the way for renewed OEM competition over the platform and more options for end-users.
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