With the exception of Google’s Core i5-powered Pixel, the majority of Chromebooks run on low-end processors and caters to budget-focused laptop users – up until now.
At the Intel Developer Forum this week, Intel Corp. revealed plans to bring its Haswell chip architecture to the Chromebook platform to provide greater performance and longer battery life to the Web-based device. The plan includes PC vendors Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Asus and Toshiba.
The Chomebook, runs on Google’s Chrome operating systems. The device was designed to be used while connected to the Internet as it supports applications that reside on the Web rather that in the machine itself. Many of the Chromebooks in the market are contain less power Atom, Celeron and ARM processors and are sold from $200 to $400 except for the Pixel which has a Core i5 chip and sells for about $1300.
Intel developed the Haswell chip as a successor to its Ivy Bridge processors. Haswell is a low-power processor designed for convertible of hybrid ultrabooks.
Such a chip will likely enable Chromebooks to operate in the 10 to 12-hour range said Nathan Brookwood, analyst for Insight64, a market research firm.
The power and battery life enhancement as well as the Intel brand will help make Chromebook more attractive to corporations and government offices, according to Rob Enderle, an analyst at Enderle Group.