I switched from MacBook Pro to Chromebook plus and I love it
At the start I was skeptic for obvious reasons, it’s a Mac I was parting with. But I’m happy that made the switch
Apart from things mentioned by Google like automatic free update/upgrades, Titan security chip inbuilt, fast boot-up time, etc I would like to add my experience.
For developers and daily users:
- Setting up Linux on a Chromebook is just a few clicks and 5 mins away. After that it’s your playground. Install and run all your favorite software with sudo apt. And as a developer I love Linux on Chromebook, having seamlessly installed VS Code, node, firebase, ruby n Jekyll, openjdk and a lot more.
- Custom shortcuts to boost productivity: creating custom keyboard shortcuts is pretty easy and a huge productivity booster if you’re a power user of keyboards.
3. I keep my important documents on drive and whenever I needed to upload it somewhere else, I would have to download it first and then upload it. Now I can directly access all my docs from Google drive same as a file explorer and also access them offline.
4. Play store is just right there. I’m now able to install and access all my productivity apps (and games) directly on my Chromebook rather than switching to my phone with a perk of big screen.
5. Accessing my Android phone (Pixel 7 pro) directly from the notification tray of my Chromebook is super easy. Be it notifications, apps like Whatsapp, recent media, chrome browser tabs and a lot more. I don’t even need to touch my phone when I’m using my Chromebook. And moreover, I can locate my device when it’s on silent mode with just 2-clicks.
For Organisations:
- Save at least half the cost on the same config as MacBooks. If you have 50 developers, you would be saving at least ~₹50L on machines.
- No need to manage/configure every single device separately. Once your employee signs up with org’s email, all the policy applies to the Chromebook at once. Applying policy to org owned devices is pretty easy with Google workspace. You can block urls, control which settings to enable/disable for devs. And a lot more like locking a lost/stolen device etc.
3. Secure out of the box: Chromebooks come with built-in malware and virus protection, and they use sandboxing technology to isolate processes from each other. They also automatically update to protect against the latest threats.
4. Different type of devices for different needs: If you require low end devices for front-desk or inventory, you’ve got that option (Chromebox). If you require high-end devices for heavy processing like development work, you have those options as well. Overall saving more cost.
5. With edu push, folks from college/fresh grads will have Chromebook experience firsthand making it easier for them to start during their on-boarding and will require less time in getting used to in future.
6. If you’re Google Workspace customer, then managing Chromebooks is way easier with Admin Console compared to deploying a team for it if you’re using Macbooks/Windows machine.
7. Long Term Support: Chromebooks comes with free and long term support, so your devices won’t go out of date so soon, which saves you another huge cost.
8. Gemini comes by default with Chromebook Plus (which can be enabled/disabled on org level) making people more productive.
Some myths about Chromebooks
- Chromebooks are meant for only online stuffs: I’ve been using it for devs work, I keep my code offline, all the nodejs and java dependancies are downloaded. Files are there on both Drive and local storage. I didn’t find it to be different in any way compared to a Macbook.
- Chromebooks are not performant: While few devices are meant for edu use-cases which doesn’t require a huge config hardwares which also in turn saves a lot of cost, you can always get a higer-enf Chromebooks like 32GB RAM, core-i7, 512GB SSD machines. Which are equally performant if not better than high end Macbooks.
Not everything is shiny about Chromebooks
- It takes time to get used to the keyboard layout and Macbooks definitely have a better experience (mostly because of familiarity).
- You simply can not beat MacBook’s retina displays, but higher end Chromebooks do have amazing screens (like the one I’m using: HP Dragonfly)
- With MacBook, the underlying hardware is standardized, even with different Macbook devices, you have the same experience, but Chromebooks have many manufacturers like HP, Asus, Dell and changing devices can have different experience. But if you’re an Organisation, you can get a single vendor.
Verdict
Till now I haven’t missed Macbook (had it been using it for more than 7 years) after the switch and it feels more productive with integrated Google/Pixel/Android ecosystem.
PS: These are my experiences and can be different for folks out there.
