Google gives most Chromebooks an extra year of software support

[Arthur]

Source: Google (via Android Police)

 

One major problem with Chromebooks is that the support lifespan is fixed; once your Chromebook passes its End-Of-Life date, usually a few years from its release, it will no longer get updates. This is in stark contrast to traditional PCs, which can continue to receive updates (even if only through Linux) until the hardware fails. Thankfully, Google has just made this problem slightly less annoying.

 

Seven Chromebooks from Lenovo recently had their support lifespan extended, and now Google has updated the EOL date for 135 more models from several manufacturers.

 

Most models received another year of support, others only got another six months, and some now have two more years. Some notable models include the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 (June 2023, from Nov. 2022), Google Chromebook Pixel 2015 (June 2021, from June 2020), Google Pixel Slate (June 2026, from June 2024), and the Samsung Chromebook 3 (June 2022, from June 2021).

 

One model, the Prowise Chromebook Eduline, actually had its support life reduced by a year (from June 2025 to June 2024). It's not clear if this is a typo on Google's part, but that's what the page now says.

 

 

[mavhc]

The EOL thing is the main reason I don't recommend Chromebooks for school, who knows what the budget will be like 5 years from now.

 

Does the licence you bought to manage via GSuite also expire at that point?

[FN-GM]

Does the licence you bought to manage via GSuite also expire at that point?

 

The licence doesn't expire. It will stay active for as long as you have the device.

[mavhc]

The licence doesn't expire. It will stay active for as long as you have the device.

 

Right, but if that device is EOL now you have to buy a new device, and a new licence, ka-ching!

[FN-GM]

Right, but if that device is EOL now you have to buy a new device, and a new licence, ka-ching!

Yep - like when you buy a windows laptop - you pay for the OEM licence. Albeit it is hidden into the cost.

[snagrat]

Can you not release a Chrome license when the device is removed and enrol a new device? So no need to buy additional licenses?

[caffrey]

The EOL thing is the main reason I don't recommend Chromebooks for school, who knows what the budget will be like 5 years from now.

 

Does the licence you bought to manage via GSuite also expire at that point?

 

Could say the same thing about iPads, except Apple don't disclose when they stop support and it's only really schools that wring the life out of PCs for as long as we can

[localzuk]

I don't get the issue with this to be honest. Chromebooks are very cheap devices, and if you buy them at launch, you get 6 years of support for them.

 

Point me at a Windows laptop that cost £200 and is still fine after 6 years? Doesn't exist. You'll be struggling after 2 years with such a cheap Windows laptop.

[dmj]

Can you not release a Chrome license when the device is removed and enrol a new device? So no need to buy additional licenses?

 

Technically it's possible, but it would breach the license agreement. You can release the device if it has been damaged and replaced but not as part of a renewal.

[mavhc]

HP Probook 440 G4 i3-7100U 14", Windows 10 Pro, 8GB ram, 128GB SSD for £262 ex-vat, inc trade in. 1 year ago, so hopefully still working in 5 years, no problems so far.

 

Celeron Chromebooks are cheap, but then so are Celeron anything.

[Primus]

HP Probook 440 G4 i3-7100U 14", Windows 10 Pro, 8GB ram, 128GB SSD for £262 ex-vat, inc trade in. 1 year ago, so hopefully still working in 5 years, no problems so far.

 

Celeron Chromebooks are cheap, but then so are Celeron anything.

 

If you take into account trade in then you'd be looking at way less for a Chromebook. I paid £149 ex VAT per Chromebook recently and that was without any trade in!

 

The whole point of a Chromebook is that it doesn't need a beefy processor!

[mavhc]

Why doesn't it need a good cpu though? It's running javascript, that's not native code, it's got to convert it to native code, needs a better cpu than to do the same thing with native code, also more ram.

[localzuk]

HP Probook 440 G4 i3-7100U 14", Windows 10 Pro, 8GB ram, 128GB SSD for £262 ex-vat, inc trade in. 1 year ago, so hopefully still working in 5 years, no problems so far.

 

Celeron Chromebooks are cheap, but then so are Celeron anything.

So, that's 30% more expensive and needs a trade in device. Scale that up and I would've just paid nearly £20k more for them, and would've needed 310 devices to trade in. Get rid of the trade in, I'm guessing that was £50 per device, and my cost would've gone up nearly £40k. Killing my entire project as it would've been entirely over budget.

 

Oh, and that £200 per device is for 1 in 1 touchscreen devices. For a simple laptop device you can knock at least £50 off per device.

 

Just proves my point really.

Edited November 5, 2019 by localzuk

[DGardiner]

Its possible to neverware the "expired chromebooks" to make them continue working from what i understand

[mavhc]

Although then there's another cost to pay Neverware

[localzuk]

Although then there's another cost to pay Neverware

After 6 years? You'd just be replacing the device. I've never found any school using 6 year old laptops successfully, Windows or otherwise.

[jthompson]

After 6 years? You'd just be replacing the device. I've never found any school using 6 year old laptops successfully, Windows or otherwise.

 

I'm inclined to agree. If our Chromebooks reach their EOL date still in one piece, I'll count it as a roaring success.

[Cat_Jam148]

After 6 years? You'd just be replacing the device. I've never found any school using 6 year old laptops successfully, Windows or otherwise.

Primary here running 32 2013 Toshiba Satellite Pro's which are used daily. Upgraded them to SSDs a few years back but still running strong! No plans to replace, no real need as they work perfectly - we'll end up running them into the ground.

 

Our iPad 2s on the other hand...oh boy

Edited November 5, 2019 by Cat_Jam148

[Primus]

Primary here running 32 2013 Toshiba Satellite Pro's which are used daily. Upgraded them to SSDs a few years back but still running strong! No plans to replace, no real need as they work perfectly - we'll end up running them into the ground.

 

Our iPad 2s on the other hand...oh boy

 

iPad 2s are 8 years old - how long are you expecting to get out of them?

[localzuk]

Primary here running 32 2013 Toshiba Satellite Pro's which are used daily. Upgraded them to SSDs a few years back but still running strong! No plans to replace, no real need as they work perfectly - we'll end up running them into the ground.

Are they £150-£200 laptops? In the context of this thread, 6 year old £150-200 laptops.

[Cat_Jam148]

iPad 2s are 8 years old - how long are you expecting to get out of them?

 

I expected "not much longer" a couple of years ago however, SLT expect them to keep going to until the very end. I've been bringing replacement plans up every meeting for the past few years and was finally on track to get them replaced the beginning of next year until I had my budget slaughtered mid-year due to financial forecasts.

 

I've grown to detest them as they're a pain to manage now, horribly slow and the last iOS update was 9.3.5.

 

Are they £150-£200 laptops? In the context of this thread, 6 year old £150-200 laptops.

 

We paid £260, so not too far off. The SSD upgrade a couple of years ago was about £35ish each unit.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Cat_Jam148

[Primus]

So £295 against my £149.

[Cat_Jam148]

So £295 against my £149.

Ok. Ok. I was just pointing out that the cheap...ish machines can last far longer than expected. I'll head back to my cave now

Edited November 5, 2019 by Cat_Jam148

[DalekSec]

Ours haven't been extended.... June 2020 they run out :/

[mavhc]

The other problem is you can't stop web apps from gaining complexity over time, can't run the 2013 version of GSuite which used less cpu/ram probably