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One of the things my first real Chromebook came equipped with was wireless network access. The HP Chromebook 14 (the first device I did an unboxing of) came with a free, paltry amount of data each month from T-Mobile. If you wanted, you could up that amount and pay for a data plan, but I never did.
What I did do, however, was utilize that little bit of data in scenarios when I just needed to fire off and email or two and didn’t feel like setting up a hotspot or searching for WIFI. It was convenient and I really loved having it as a fallback for those times when I just needed to quickly do something online.
Since then, however, wireless support for Chromebooks has been pretty scant.
Here Comes LTE
According to this commit in the Chromium repository, the Chromebook known as ‘Cheza’ will be equipping an eSIM, meaning all the info for use on a wireless network is all internalized and there is no need for a SIM card.
We’ve known for a while that there is a chance that ‘Cheza’ and its offshoots could utilize LTE since the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 the board is based on inherently contains the hardware needed to connect to LTE networks.
Until now, however, we haven’t seen firm evidence that LTE will be included. This commit changes all that. This device may be the first LTE Chromebook that could be marketed and sold via carriers, giving it a much-needed boost in visibility.
The idea of a thin, fast, detachable, battery-sipping, LTE-connected Chromebook has me more than excited for ‘Cheza’ and all the devices it will spawn.
Our collective hope is that we might finally see it in the flesh at CES 2019. The timelines add up and Qualcomm has a strong presence at that show. Maybe the stars are aligning over Vegas in a few months and we’ll finally get to see the world’s first Qualcomm-powered Chromebook.
