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We’ve talked at length about MediaTek and their upcoming Chromebook-specific chips in the past and we’ve even made a video about why exactly these chips will come to play an important roll in the Chrome OS ecosystem in the near future. Those chips, specifically, are the MT8183 (currently in devices like the Lenovo Chromebook Duet), the MT8192 and the MT8195. While we have devices in the market already with the low-powered MT8183, we feel confident a few of the MT8192-powered Chromebooks will be here by summer followed by the MT8195 Chromebooks later in 2021.
Just a couple weeks ago, we uncovered the work that is beginning on the flagship-level MT8195 chip in the Chromium Gerrit, but there wasn’t a device tied to it just yet. Honestly, just seeing the MT8195 show up in development was a bit of a relief since MediaTek said this chip would be in Chromebooks by the end of the year. However, with that work, there wasn’t an actual development board tied to this new processor in the Chromium Gerrit. Now we have the first.
It is unclear if ‘Cherrry’ will become the development base board for the MT8195 or if it is simply the first of its kind, but either way we finally have a board name to keep an eye on in the high-end ARM Chromebook race from MediaTek. While we don’t know much about this device just yet, ARM chips are quite a bit more forthcoming in their development details and just like we’ve seen with devices like ‘Coachz’, much of what ‘Cherry’ becomes will be clearer as development progresses.
Will this device be part of the “fire” that Hiroshi Lockheimer tweeted about last week? Will this chip outperform any ARM-powered Chromebooks that have come before? These and many others are great questions surrounding the development happening behind the scenes right now in the Chrome OS world. With the impending arrival of 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake, Snapdragon 7c, MediaTek MT8192 and MT8195 devices, we’ve only just begun the Chromebook onslaught of 2021. Buckle up: it’s going to be a very fun ride.
