14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no mystery that Intel plans to launch its first processor based on its new 14nm Broadwell architecture before the end of the year. The first Broadwell chips to arrive will be part of the Intel Core M processor family and will be aimed at mobile devices like tablets and notebooks running Windows and apparently Android too.
But now it appears the Broadwell platform won’t be limited just to that and will expand to include Chomebooks and Chromebox devices as well.
Google’s own François Beaufort writes that code for a Broadwell-based device codenamed Auron has been spotted in the Chromium code repository.
Surely, at this point in time, we’re merely dealing with a board that somebody is testing, but who is to say it will not turn into a real product anytime soon.
Even if such a project exists, it is certainly in its early stages of development, but that doesn’t stop us from speculating that a Chromebook running on the Broadwell platform might be outed at some point.
Broadwell chips are expected to be able to deliver better performance-per-watt and bring about lower power consumption than today’s Haswell, so it makes sense.
We can find Haswell chips in a number of Chromebooks offered by Acer, HP or Dell, and lately, we have seen brand vendors offering models designed to bring about more power.
For example, Acer has just launched a model running on the Intel Core i3 platform and the industry’s first product of this kind based on NVIDIA’s Tegra K1.
So who is to say that sometime in 2015 a manufacturer won’t take up the challenge and release a Broadwell-enhanced Chromebook.
The first Broadwell chips will be coming out this year, in the form of the Intel Core M processors. They are low-power chips to be included in fanless tablets, notebooks and 2-in-1 systems, and Intel already teased us with a hybrid system which was put on display at Computex 2014 a few months ago.
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if the first Broadwell-based Chromebooks were quite light and fanless as well.
Speaking of which, the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi might be one of the first hybrids running on the platform to actually make it out on the market. The tablet/notebook arrives with a 12-inch IPS screen and will deliver 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution.
If we’re lucky enough, customers might be able to place an order for it as soon as this Christmas. Hopefully Intel remains on track with Broadwell.