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Google Pixelbook leak reveals a high-end Chromebook with stylus support

Google Pixelbook leak reveals a high-end Chromebook with stylus support

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Image: Droid Life

It looks like Google is bringing back the Chromebook Pixel — just under a slightly different name. Droid Life has uncovered photos and details of an upcoming Chromebook called the Google Pixelbook. It’ll be seriously high-end for a Chromebook, just like the original Pixel, but this time around, it’ll also support a stylus and flip around to function like a tablet.

The Pixelbook will reportedly come in only one color, silver, and have three different storage tiers: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Those will sell for $1,199, $1,399, and $1,749 — at which point you could have easily bought five cheaper Chromebooks instead. One particular oddity: despite the high price, the Pixelbook apparently won’t ship with its stylus, called the Pixelbook Pen, which is supposed to sell for an additional $99.

Image: Droid Life

That gets awfully expensive for a Chromebook, especially given that even a high-end Chromebook usually sells for only $600 or so. In exchange, though, it looks like you’ll be getting a really nicely made laptop. The leaked photos show a very cool, blocky design with big keys, a wide trackpad, and what looks like a glass-covered palm rest. It looks like Google is sticking with the tall 3:2 screen aspect ratio, too.

As for why you’d bother to spend well over $1,000 on a Chromebook, when you can get a very good Chromebook for half or a very good Mac for the same price, I’m still not really sure. Last time around, Google seemed to make the Pixel as a way to show off what Chromebooks are capable of. That might be true again here, with the Pixelbook meant for a niche group of artists and Chromebook fans — and mostly meant to show developers what else their machines should be able to do.

Chances are, the Pixelbook will be announced at Google’s October 4th event, when it’s also expected to unveil its new Pixel smartphones.