Google Now Promises 10 Years of Automatic Updates for Chromebooks

Google announced today some significant changes to expand the lifespan of Chromebooks, with 10 years of automatic software updates starting in 2024. Google is also making changes to its Chromebook Repair Program to speed up the repair process, and the company also plans to roll out new power-efficient features to make Chromebooks more durable.

Since the launch of the first Chromebook back in 2012, these devices managed to become quite popular in the US education system. Chromebooks are usually very affordable and easy to manage for IT pros. Being cheap and easy to replace also contributes to making Chromebooks perceived as throwable appliances, but Google sure wants to change that.

Starting next year, all Chromebooks released since 2021 will automatically receive 10 years of security updates. For older models, consumers and IT admins will have the option to extend automatic updates to 10 years from the release date of the “platform,” which is Google’s term for the specific combination of hardware components used by Chromebook manufacturers.

Google also pointed out today that Chromebooks that go out of support will still remain relatively secure. “With Verified Boot, for example, your Chromebook does a self-check every time it starts up. If it detects that the system has been tampered with or corrupted in any way, it will typically repair itself, reverting back to its original state,” the company explained.

The Chromebook Repair Program is also being improved to allow authorized repair centers and school technicians to repair Chromebooks without a physical USB key. Google claims that this should reduce the repair time for schools using Chromebooks by over 50%.

To make Chromebooks more durable, Google is planning to introduce new energy-efficient updates on Chrome OS such as adaptive charging to preserve battery health over time. A new Battery saver mode will also help to make batteries last longer.