Dell and HP are working on high-end Chromebooks

You do not think about high-end specs when you mention a Chromebook, but it seems that Dell and HP might be spicing things up a notch. Both companies would be working on models based on a Kaby Lake processor and screen resolution of up-to 2400x1600 pixels.

If the rumors are to be correct, five models are in development based on the same specifications, reports XDA-Developers. Both Dell, and HP but also an unnamed manufacturer will join in. The High-end Chromebooks are developed under codename 'Nami', which is the reference design:

There are five flavours of Nami, developed under codenames: Akali, Nami, Pantheon, Sona, and Vayne. There are hints that Vayne is Dell’s and Sona is HP’s. The others are still a mystery. These five boards inherit some very interesting features from their parent board:

• Form factor: 360° convertible. Compared to the detachable announced by HP or the tablet by Acer, this is fairly vanilla for 2018 Chromebooks.
• Screen: 2400×1600 panel, the same as what we’ve seen in the Pixelbook and the forthcoming HP x2. This could change for each variant, however, as the developers are working on just one engineering platform in these early days of development. [source]
• CPU: Nami’s variants will use high-wattage Kaby Lake chips, something we can infer from the fact that they have a fan profile to keep them cool. This means that these machines will be more powerful than their fanless counterparts. [source]
• Memory: Based on Coreboot files, we’ll have both 8GB and 16GB variants.
• Keyboard: All variants except for Akali will have backlit keyboards.
• Storage: At this stage, it looks like Nami variants could use either standard soldered eMMC or the faster and more expensive NVMe. It’s too early to say for sure. 

The specifications point to an effort to fill the gap between the $550 Samsung Chromebook Pro and the $1000+ Pixelbook, and the number of devices in development mean more than a throwaway effort at prosumer devices. Google is steadily firming its grip in the education sector but has had little limelight in the enterprise sector.

The last enterprise Chromebooks launched in 2016 to little fanfare. But with Chrome Enterprise now on the scene, the Nami family could be another effort by Google to push into the enterprise space with enticing new hardware.

Release dates aren’t confirmed. Development is still in early stages so we probably won’t see them before Fall/Winter 2018, just as businesses start considering purchases to squeeze in before the end of the financial year. In the meantime, we’ll continue tracking the exciting developments of Nami and friends.

Dell and HP are working on high-end Chromebooks