Meet the Chromebook Plus Line: Google and Partners Unveil 8 Leveled-Up Laptops

pcmag.com:

A Chromebook is not necessarily just a Chromebook anymore. Google, in concert with four of the major system OEMs, is introducing a new, special tier of the web-centric laptops today.

The models, dubbed Chromebook Plus, go on sale starting Oct. 8 in the US (a day later in Europe and Canada), and are defined by a set of minimum hardware specs to guarantee a certain level of performance and usability. The Chromebook Plus line was developed under the codename “Chromebook X." Rumors had speculated what the X initiative would be all about, but Google confirmed in our onsite briefing that Chromebook X and Chromebook Plus are the same thing.

These new models will be complemented by some intriguing tweaks to the ChromeOS UI, which in aggregate the company says are its biggest single-rollout changes in the history of the operating system. (See our separate article outlining the ChromeOS changes that are coming in parallel, including a UI theme that Google dubs "Material You.")

The first Chromebooks debuted in 2011, and while it might seem they have always been part of the computing landscape, they're actually a newer phenomenon than netbooks and even tablets like the first Apple iPad. The traditional Chromebook was a low-cost, low-spec system just good enough to run a web browser and a handful of tabs, and often priced to undercut the budget Windows machines of the day. 

In recent years, however, we have seen the Chromebook market mature—and fragment—into segments for extreme budget models, education-focused Chromebooks, premium consumer machines, gaming Chromebooks, and even pricey, enterprise-tier ones. What Chromebook Plus aims to do is set a Chromebook baseline for an excellent experience that parallels what users are