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apple are launching a $599 smol macbook ("macbook neo") to kill the chromebook market and i want to cheer them on but gods only 8GiB RAM and not even the option of upgrading at the time of purchase(!!!), that's bleak in 2026
friend reminded us that they're reusing an old iPhone SoC and those have the RAM on-package so that could explain why there's the hard RAM limit
framework laptop 12 vs macbook neo vs chromebook. choose your fighter
@hikari
The one thing Chromebooks have going for them is that it's easier to run alternate operating systems (mainline Linux, Windows and sometimes even macOS) compared to random Android gadgets: as Google actually bothered standardizing the boot process that time around.
Not that it makes up for the neutered keyboard layouts and my distaste toward the Macbook Air/Intel Ultrabook design ethos (increasingly limited port selections, no room for quiet fans).
ChromeOS might be worth using if you're keen on sandboxing and if there was a well maintained Ungoogled version (FydeOS is the only one standing and it seems kinda halfassed).
Still tempted to build a portable around a Chromebox, as those have enough I/O to keep the dongles out of my life (gigabit/2.5gig ethernet, multiple USBs).
EDIT: these also have upgradeable RAM unlike the laptops
The one thing Chromebooks have going for them is that it's easier to run alternate operating systems (mainline Linux, Windows and sometimes even macOS) compared to random Android gadgets: as Google actually bothered standardizing the boot process that time around.
Not that it makes up for the neutered keyboard layouts and my distaste toward the Macbook Air/Intel Ultrabook design ethos (increasingly limited port selections, no room for quiet fans).
ChromeOS might be worth using if you're keen on sandboxing and if there was a well maintained Ungoogled version (FydeOS is the only one standing and it seems kinda halfassed).
Still tempted to build a portable around a Chromebox, as those have enough I/O to keep the dongles out of my life (gigabit/2.5gig ethernet, multiple USBs).
EDIT: these also have upgradeable RAM unlike the laptops
@hikari
Mostly posting this because I hyped and FOMO'd myself into getting a used "enterprise spec" Chromebook (i5-1245u, 8GB soldered RAM).
Mostly posting this because I hyped and FOMO'd myself into getting a used "enterprise spec" Chromebook (i5-1245u, 8GB soldered RAM).
@hikari
coreboot is a ploy to make paranoids and tryhards blow their money on 6/10 hardware. /halfjoking
coreboot is a ploy to make paranoids and tryhards blow their money on 6/10 hardware. /halfjoking
@hikari Chromebook is no go for me from the get go. Iād like to like the Framework, but those processor options are concerning. For a basic mobile laptop, the neo is interesting and may run linux in the future as Iād prefer linux.