3 more Chromebooks in development bring the ‘Skywalker’ Chromebook family to 15

I’m officially out of clever ways to say I’m surprised. When we found ‘Dooku’ back in November, bringing the total number of ‘Skywalker’ devices to 12, I joked that I wasn’t betting against more Star Wars characters showing up. Well, I’m glad I didn’t, because the Chromium Gerrit has dumped three more names onto the pile: ‘Vader’, ‘Jaina’, and ‘Mace’.

With these three additions, the MediaTek Kompanio 540 (MT8189) platform now has 15 unique Chromebooks in active development. To put that in perspective, most baseboards are lucky to see at most 10 offshoots. To see fifteen is pretty staggering and signals that both Google and their Chromebook OEMs are betting big on this chip to be the new standard for midrange and education devices as 2026 unfolds.

Excitement builds for the ASUS CM32 Detachable

The most notable name in this new trio is, of course, ‘Vader’. While the name alone suggests something powerful, there aren’t a ton of clues I’ve found yet to set this device apart from the other wave of ‘Skywalker’ devices on the way.

I’m still most interested in the ASUS CM32 Detachable Chromebook as an answer from ASUS to the very excellent Duet 11″ I’m typing this post on right now. As I’ve re-discovered this awesome mid-range MediaTek tablet and woke up to the fact that the Kompanio 540 coming in ‘Skywalker’ devices is actually (basically) the same SoC that we have in the Duet 11″, I’m incredibly excited for ASUS’ take on the larger (12.1″) tablet that comes with a 120Hz refresh rate for the screen and a whopping 600 nits of brightness, too. It’s gonna be great.

The updated ‘Skywalker’ family

With ‘Vader’, ‘Jaina’, and ‘Mace’ officially in the mix, here is what the current (and massive) lineup looks like:

• Obiwan
• Luuke
• Yoda
• Anakin
• Quigon
• Baze
• Tarkin
• Phasma
• Grogu
• Starros
• Finley
• Dooku
• Vader (New)
• Jaina (New)
• Mace (New)

Whether you are looking for a rugged EDU clamshell or a sleek detachable like the ASUS Chromebook CM32, it’s clear that MediaTek is going to be in a bunch of devices this year. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Chromium Gerrit to see if we can find more details on any of these devices. I’m very curious to see how many among the 15 end up becoming widely available for consumers.