The 11th ‘Skywalker’ Chromebook emerges, codenamed ‘Finley’

The development surrounding the MediaTek MT8189 baseboard, code-named ‘Skywalker’, has already shattered every precedent we’ve ever seen for ARM-powered Chromebooks. We were absolutely floored when the count of unique devices being built on this single platform reached double digits last month.

Well, as it turns out, they’re still not done. Digging through the Chromium Gerrit this morning, I uncovered evidence of yet another board joining the prolific ‘Skywalker’ family: ‘Finley’.

The ‘Skywalker’ family grows to 11 devices

That’s right, the total count of unique Chromebooks currently in development based on this single MediaTek MT8189 baseboard is now a staggering eleven. For those keeping the Star Wars theme score, ‘Finley’ joins the already-massive roster of ‘Obiwan’, ‘Luuke’, ‘Yoda’, ‘Anakin’, ‘Quigon’, ‘Baze’, ‘Tarkin’, ‘Phasma’, ‘Grogu’, and ‘Starros’.

Historically, we’ve been lucky to see maybe two or three devices spawn from a single MediaTek baseboard. Witnessing a family this large is an undeniable signal of massive manufacturer interest and a deep, strategic investment from both Google and MediaTek in the MT8189 SoC.

Why this continues to be a huge deal for Chromebooks

The sheer volume of devices in the pipeline practically guarantees that when these devices eventually launch, consumers will have a wide and diverse range of options to choose from, likely spanning different form factors and coming from multiple manufacturers. This level of variety should create some interesting competition when it comes to features and pricing, and the result should be a net win for consumers and schools who will be the likely recipients of these ‘Skywalker’ devices.

While we’re still awaiting official confirmation on the exact specifications and capabilities of the MediaTek MT8189, the unprecedented number of devices being built around it strongly suggests it will hit a compelling sweet spot in terms of performance, efficiency, and cost. We’ll be diligently tracking all eleven (and counting?) of these new devices as they progress. Stay tuned!