In a long-awaited move, Google has finally fully revealed its new Chromebook Plus series, promising productivity-focused devices with higher specs, better productivity, and more user options. Chromebook Plus has been speculated on for months and was initially codenamed Chromebook X, but the name was dropped midway through 2023 in favor of the slightly more vanilla Plus (and perhaps to avoid association with Musk's X down the line?).

Still, the new Chromebook Plus specifications will be a boon for those on the Chromebook productivity hype train, not least due to the minimum specs Google now requires.

What Is Chromebook Plus?

Chromebook Plus is a new generation of Chromebooks designed to bring better performance and reliability to the popular portable productivity laptops. It is pushing the Chromebook Plus brand to create a clear distinction between regular Chromebooks and a new generation of premium Chromebooks with higher minimum specs, better security features, and certain AI features.

On The Keyword, Google states that Chromebook Plus models will have "double the performance" alongside built-in productivity features and, most importantly, must hit a certain performance level. The Chromebook Plus minimum hardware specs are:

• CPU: Intel Core i3 12th Gen or above, or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above
• RAM: 8GB+
• Storage: 128GB+
• Webcam: 1080p+ with Temporal Noise Reduction
• Display: Full HD IPS or better display

The upgrades to at least 8GB should boost functionality—plus, these are minimum specs. Expect many Chromebook Plus models to exceed these to deliver better overall performance.

3 New Chromebook Plus Software Enhancements

Google is pushing up the Chromebook Plus minimum hardware requirements in part to enable better software support.

For example, Google Photos will now feature the AI-powered Magic Eraser (also rolled out to all Android devices earlier in 2023) to automatically remove image backgrounds and more, along with the option to automatically generate and build movies and other short clips from a series of images.

Google has also partnered with Adobe to bring Photoshop, Express, and LumaFusion to Chromebook Plus, bringing a level of productivity and creativity options to the newly launched specification. Currently, Chromebook Plus users will receive three months of Adobe Photoshop and Express for free when they buy a new Chromebook Plus (along with a three-month subscription to the Priority tier of Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming tool).

Other advancements come to Chromebook Plus cameras, again boosting the productivity credentials of the new devices. Chromebook Plus' integrated webcams must be at least 1080p (and include Temporal Noise Reduction for greater clarity). Furthermore, the webcam app will receive a handy toolbar featuring AI-powered tools like improved lighting, noise cancelation, live captions, and blurring options, with more features set to arrive.

Chromebook Plus also gets an upgraded Google Drive feature called File Sync, which essentially keeps all of your files synced offline and online at all times. It sounds relatively similar to existing Google Drive settings, so we'd have to get hands-on with File Sync before calling it useful or not.

Chromebook Plus Will Feature Integrated AI Tools (Soon)

Now, Google didn't stop at the Chromebook Plus minimum specs and new productivity features. It also revealed that Chromebook Plus would receive new AI features through 2024 and onward, many of which are focused on making your life easier, based upon Google's AI tech. For example, Google wants to include a generative AI tool to help you make posts or create snippets when required.

We’re making it easier to draft and refine shorter-form content across websites you visit on your Chromebook Plus. With just a right click, you can get help with polishing or adding some wit to your words, whether you’re writing a restaurant review, a social media post or a YouTube video description.

From launch, Chromebook Plus laptops will include a dynamic desktop wallpaper tool that changes four times per day. In a future update, Google wants to turn that into a generative AI tool that allows any user to input a prompt and receive a unique desktop background. Google's example was "cats in the style of Van Gogh," but if it's anything like text-to-image AI tools like Midjourney or DALL-E, the options and prompts are effectively limitless.

When Is Chromebook Plus Launching? What Chromebook Plus Models Are Available?

Google is officially launching Chromebook Plus on October 8, 2023—but a few Chromebook Plus models are already sneaking out onto the market. For example, Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo have already revealed new Chromebook Plus hardware:

Should You Buy a Chromebook Plus?

We've yet to get our hands on a Chromebook Plus for review, so the jury is still out. However, given the commitment to raising minimum hardware specifications, upgrades to productivity tools, and AI integration, the Chromebook Plus specification could be a great option for consumers. Theoretically, you won't have to bounce between heaps of reviews to find Chromebooks with the specs you need, as the Plus models will become the premium, go-to option.

Another issue is that despite the Chromebook Plus minimum hardware specification, there is no mention of a corresponding minimum battery performance. If the new Chromebook Plus specification runs more powerful hardware, we'd hope the battery life and capacity are equally juiced up and can keep the Chromebook working all day. As productivity has always been at the forefront of Chromebook development, it's likely this has been considered, but it's odd not to see it mentioned in the official announcement.