Google has announced that Chromebooks will have automatic software updates during the 10 years following the launch date of each platform. This step will undoubtedly help increase the useful life of this equipment, which until now had eight years of updates.
Therefore, with this new measure, users with Chromebooks launched in 2021 will have 10 years of automatic updates starting in 2024. If the Chromebook device that a user has is older than those launched in 2021, they will also be able to extend their updates up to 10 years from the launch of the corresponding platform, after they receive their last automatic update when scheduled.
For Google, «A platform is a set of components designed to work together, something a manufacturer selects for any Chromebook. To ensure compatibility with our updates, we work with all component manufacturers within one platform, such as processor and WiFI, to develop and test the software on each Chromebook.«.
Discovering the platform to which each Chromebook belongs is not easy, although you can try to find out about the computer’s motherboard, in addition to checking the ChromeOS version page they carry to find out the expiration date of automatic updates. But even then it is not simple.
As we have said, so far Chromebooks have eight years of updates, as Google announced in 2020. With their passage to a decade, their useful life will improve. But since it is not the only thing necessary for them to last more years at full performance, the company has also confirmed other improvements. Among them, flexible charging and a battery saving mode to «most platforms supported«.
In addition, Google is also going to release updates so that technicians and authorized repair centers can repair Chromebook devices without a physical USB port. This makes it easier to fix, and reduces the resolution of software-related problems by more than 50%.
