pple rode the AI boom, with Macs winning early access to cutting-edge technology and capturing AI users. Now Google is rebranding Chromebooks to compete.
On Monday, Google launched Googlebooks, a new category of laptops that are built on Android while maintaining ChromeOS. Google is making two major selling points:
- Android phone users get a much more seamless experience working together with these laptops
- Gemini Intelligence is integrated into the core experience
Google backs up the claim that Googlebooks were designed for Gemini Intelligence with new features that make getting Gemini assistance more seamless. For instance, with the Magic Pointer feature, users can wiggle their cursors to give Gemini access to whatever is on the screen. Rambler, the Google voice-to-text feature that functions similarly to Wispr Flow, is now located next to the Quick Insert key. This is meant to help users quickly access the feature and get accurate transcriptions wherever they compose text.
It is also integrating AI to help people build. The Create My Widget feature allows users to customize the desktop by using natural language to create widgets. For people interested in taking it a step further, Google Antigravity, Google's development platform for AI, comes with every Googlebook. Developers also have access to a full Linux terminal environment, where they can use tools like Claude Code or Antigravity CLI, according to Google.
To flex the AI arm even further, every Chromebook purchase includes 12 months of Google AI Pro, with 5TB of cloud storage and Gemini Advanced tools. Other freebies include 3 months of YouTube Premium, Adobe Photoshop, and up to $300+ in apps. If it feels like AI is the central focus, that's what some of the earliest user critiques of Googlebooks have been focused on, though initial reactions from the media have trended more positive.
The launch partners include HP and Dell, whose Googlebooks are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. Lenovo and Acer, whose laptops use the Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 3 (Panther Lake). And there's also ASUS, with the Googlebook 14 powered by the Intel Core Ultra 5/7 (Panther Lake). While these chipsets are powerful and can definitely handle AI workloads, this is probably the hardest area for Google to compete in, as Apple Silicon remains more advanced. The laptops are available for pre-order today and launch on October 4 in the US, and start at $899.
Our Deeper View
Apple has been winning big in the on-device AI race, delivering the chips and devices needed to fuel it, and unsurprisingly, more manufacturers want a slice of that pie. Google's Chromebook rebrand as "Googlebook" is its attempt at doing just that. The biggest draw, I think, will be for Android users who can now seamlessly hand off between their phones and laptops, a feature Apple users have enjoyed for years between iPhones and Macs. The Gemini pull will be a tougher sell, though, since Mac users can already access some of the best AI features available in Google's suite of tools. Competing will be especially difficult as Nvidia's RTX Spark chipsets power a new generation of laptops from many of the same manufacturers, including Acer, Asus, Dell, and Lenovo. Another critical factor is that this marks Google's first real entry into Apple's turf of premium devices, whereas Apple has already found early momentum entering Google's turf with the budget-friendly MacBook Neo that targets the space formerly owned by Chromebooks and budget-friendly Windows machines.