Confirmed: Lenovo is building the highly anticipated ‘Sapphire’ Chromebook tablet

For months, we’ve been tracking ‘Sapphire’ as a potential Google-made Chromebook tablet. Because of a specific four-color light bar found in the code, I’ve openly wondered if Google might be returning to the Chromebook hardware space with this MediaTek Kompanio Ultra-powered device. However, a new discovery this morning in the Chromium Gerrit has clearly answered the questions around who’s behind ‘Sapphire’: and it is quite obviously Lenovo.

While some might be disappointed that this isn’t a new Pixelbook from Google, the reality is that Lenovo is perhaps the best candidate to handle a project like ‘Sapphire’. Given how Lenovo has recently stepped up to carry the torch of Google-inspired design with the Chromebook Plus 14, seeing them take on this higher-end, lightbar-toting tablet makes a lot of sense.

A premium feature set

Even though it’s not a first-party Google device, ‘Sapphire’ is definitely shaping up to be the most exciting Chromebook tablet we’ve seen since the original Pixel Slate. It is powered by the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra, a chip proven to offer high-end performance with the incredible battery life we expect from top-tier ARM silicon.

The inclusion of a four-color light bar – a design staple of the Chromebook Pixel and Pixelbook – suggests that Lenovo is leaning heavily into a premium, “Google-y” aesthetic. Furthermore, we’ve found evidence of a wirelessly recharging, magnetic stylus that will make for a fantastic productivity add-on.

The perfect vehicle for ‘Aluminium’

As we look toward the horizon of the ‘Aluminium’ project (Google’s massive effort to transition ChromeOS to the Android kernel), the arrival of a high-end tablet to perhaps carry the torch makes a ton of sense. A tablet with this much horsepower and a refined detachable form factor will make an ideal testing ground for a version of ChromeOS that is more deeply integrated with Android’s framework.

Lenovo has a proven track record of dominating the Chromebook tablet space with the Duet series, but ‘Sapphire’ represents a significant move upmarket. By combining flagship MediaTek silicon with hardware features that feel like they are most definitely borrowed from Google’s own design ethos, Lenovo is likely positioning this device as the definitive choice for those who want a premium, tablet-first ChromeOS (‘Aluminium’) experience.

While we clearly don’t have a launch date just yet, the progress in the Gerrit suggests that development is moving along swiftly. As we edge closer to a world where ChromeOS and Android become more intertwined, ‘Sapphire’ stands out as the hardware I’ve been waiting for to truly showcase what that future looks like.