Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

The Pixelbook Go desperately needs an update, and Google continues to ignore it

Luke Larsen
By

The Pixelbook Go is one of the best products Google has ever made. It’s light. It’s fast. It’s premium in all the right ways. It’s the Chromebook that makes me actually want to use a Chromebook.

Some dubious rumors landed on Twitter a few weeks ago, hinting that a follow-up to either the original Pixelbook or Pixelbook Go was in the works — and possibly even slated for launch before the end of 2021.

Recommended Videos

And yet, another Google Pixel event has come and gone without the faintest whisper of a Pixelbook update. That’s a shame.

Related

What a Pixelbook sequel needs to be

Google Pixelbook Go keyboard
Riley Young / Digital Trends

With the surge in popularity of Chromebooks in the past year, now would have been a fantastic time to bring out another Pixelbook, whether it be a Pixelbook 2, Pixelbook Go 2, or an entirely new device. Google’s lack of presence in the Chromebook space for the past couple of years has been felt. And it becomes increasingly difficult to recommend a laptop with a three-year processor.

That’s especially true when you see the fantastic performance offered by the latest Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm chips. Now would have been a great time for some fanless 11th-gen Tiger Lake Chromebooks powered by Intel. If you believe the rumors, a proprietary Tensor chip made for desktop could be in the works. To be fair, Google could be waiting to release a new Pixelbook timed with the release of that new chip.

But it’s been over two years since the last Pixelbook, with the Pixelbook Go originally launching in 2019. It was the follow-up to the original Pixelbook, which was announced and released two years earlier. In between the two came the ill-fated Pixel Slate, which was quickly discontinued later that year. Google has never updated any of these products with new processor options, tweaked the design, or added features. They’re one and done.

That’s not a good way to support your hardware. Google likes to make the case that Chromebooks don’t require the yearly spec bump that other laptops might require. Fine, maybe there’s some truth to that. Chromebooks don’t require nearly as much upkeep as Windows laptops, and the small bumps in speed each year may not translate all that much to browser-focused work.

Google Pixelbook 2
Replacing Pixelbook Go
13.3" Display
Google Tensor
Orange,Green,Yellow,Blue,Pink pic.twitter.com/7ZjlyLUFbY

— Angel Alexiander (@AppleLe257) September 24, 2021

But not having a new Pixelbook in 2021 also means missing out on making a big deal about the handwriting app Cursive or Phone Hub. Google has never been interested in building walled gardens — and for that, I’m happy. Still, a flagship Pixel laptop could really help spotlight the latest updates to Chrome OS that improve the experience.

The Pixelbook Go has also started to grow long in the tooth in its design. The 16:9 1080p screen leaves you wanting more, as do the extra-chunky bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. The device could use a better webcam as well, which is something many 2021 laptops are finally improving.

As important as those changes would be, it’s the Pixelbook brand itself that’s really been missing in action as of late.

The Pixel brand

If Google wants Chromebooks to ever grow beyond their humble education roots and be a more premium competitor to the Windows and Mac laptops of the world, we need a Pixelbook to lead the way. That’s always what the Pixel brand was supposed to be.

People forget, but it was a Chromebook, not a smartphone, that launched the Pixel brand. The original Chromebook Pixel came out in 2013, a $1,000 laptop that seemed ridiculously expensive compared to the popular $200 Chromebooks of the time. But it kicked off the Pixel brand, with the hope of transforming Chromebooks into something beyond their modest beginnings.

While the first-party Pixel laptops served as decent design examples of where the company wants to direct third-party manufacturers, the one-off nature of them is a problem. That was something the Pixel brand was supposed to correct. These weren’t supposed to be like the Nexus devices that came before — these were meant to be viable products for people to buy and use.

Google has accomplished that on the smartphone side of things, and continues to build that business up. The world of Chromebooks has been left rudderless without a true flagship, and for the near future, that’s not going to change.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen
Senior Editor, Computing
Luke Larsen is the Computing Editor at Digital Trends and manages all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, and…
The mounting evidence that the Pixelbook 2 will launch at Google’s Oct. 15 event
what to expect from google october event 2018 pixelbook2 cropped

Google's upcoming October 15 event will be focused on the Pixel 4 -- no doubt about that. But Google usually only has one hardware event each year, and there's another product we're hoping to see make an appearance. The Pixelbook 2.

Need the evidence? Well, for starters, Google has announced some kind of Chrome OS product at this event for the past two years. Last year, it was the Pixel Slate, which has now been cancelled. From what we can tell, the Pixelbook, though, is still very much in continued development.

Read more
Looking for a Chromebook? The Google PixelBook just got a $200 price cut
Google Pixelbook android apps

For a long time, the only two names in personal computer operating systems were Windows and Mac. The landscape has shifted a lot over the past decade, though. Linux-based Operating systems have seen increasing acceptance among everyday users who are growing less shy about breaking away from the ubiquity of Microsoft and Apple software. It's for that reason that this discounted Google PixelBookever even came into existence.

Google jumped on this burgeoning trend with its own Linux-based computer operating system, Chrome OS, and in recent years, we’ve seen a number of great Chrome-based laptops – aptly named “Chromebooks” – burst onto the scene. Initially touted as inexpensive, compact, and lightweight alternatives to Windows laptops or Macbooks, these Chromebooks have come to compete strongly with traditional PCs, and Google’s own Pixelbook, now on sale from Amazon, is one of the best examples of these full-featured Chrome OS machines.

Read more
Google takes on iPad Pro and Surface Pro with its new Pixel Slate
google unveils new pixel slate to take on apples ipad news 1

After months of endless leaks and speculation, Google finally took the wraps off of its premium new Chromebook at a media event in New York City on October 9 alongside its flagship Android phones. New this year is the Pixel Slate, Google's take on a detachable Chrome OS tablet. The Pixel Slate supports a removable keyboard folio, making it a direct competitor to Apple's iPad Pro and Microsoft's Surface Go.

The Pixel Slate launches at an interesting time -- Google announced the tablet a week following Microsoft's New York City press event where we saw the Surface Laptop 2, Surface Pro 6, and Surface Studio 2, and ahead of Apple's rumored Mac and iPad events. Though Apple has not scheduled a date for its media event, rumors suggest that Apple will launch update its devices, which would give the Pixel Slate some major competition in the premium hardware space.
Pixel Slate
The Pixel Slate is designed for productivity and life on the go, Google's hardware chief Rick Osterloh said of the device, which represents Google's re-entry into the tablet space after a three-year absence. The Pixel Slate comes in a midnight blue hue and has a folio keyboard accessory that lets it convert between tablet and laptop mode.

Read more