It’s been rumored since 2020 that Dell might be working on an XPS-branded Chromebook, and now there’s yet another indication that the project is still in the works.
According to a report from Chrome Unboxed citing “circumstantial” evidence, Dell’s XPS Chromebook is again something worthy of serious discussion. The reason being is a recent code commit in Google’s Chromium Gerrit repository. It has a mention of “Banshee” in four different places, along with a Google partner email address that was spotted on commits for other Chromebooks from Dell. Putting that together, the publication believes that “Banshee” is a new Dell-made Chromebook.
Another factor fueling the report is that the code commit mentions the “Byra” reference board variant. In these listings, Byra refers to 12th-generation Intel Alder Lake processors, which are usually only found in high-end Chromebooks. There’s the small chance, though, that this could also be referring to an Inspiron device, from Dell, but a new product from that Dell brand hasn’t been updated in four years — adding to speculation it could be an XPS.
Again, the original report is largely based on a curious hunch, and Dell hasn’t officially announced plans for an XPS Chromebook. If it did, and if the device was similar to the new XPS 13 Plus, then there likely would have been references to haptic trackpads and capacitive function keys in the repository — which all have yet to be found.
Although the XPS brand usually goes hand in hand with Windows, it is not uncommon for manufacturers to make premium-level Chromebooks under their flagship brands. Samsung has the Galaxy Chromebook, and Lenovo also makes Yoga Chromebooks. Even Asus has its Flip Chromebooks, similar to the Windows counterpart. Some of these are among our picks for the best Chromebooks.
As for Google, it hasn’t released a flagship premium Chromebook since 2019 with the Pixelbook Go, so an XPS-branded Chromebook would be really appreciated considering its superthin bezels, fantastic keyboard, and 28-watt processors under the hood. Dell might pick up the slack from Google, which has been much more focused on tweaking Chrome OS and adding new features than on releasing its own Chromebook hardware.
