We might be getting a new high-end HP Chromebook Plus soon

We’re a bit over a year since HP last updated its higher-end x360 line of Chromebooks. And to be fair, it’s actually been even longer than that in reality. As Chromebook Plus was introduced a year ago at Google’s first Chromebook Showcase, the “new” HP x360 14c we got at that event was really just a re-skinned version of the device we’d had for over 6 months prior at that point.

So that means we’ve technically been without a new top-tier HP Chromebook for 18 months now. With HP’s normal release cycles, that means it is definitely time for a new one, and I’ve talked at length already about what I’d love to see in that new x360 14c refresh.

With a few, small updates, HP could release a Chromebook that could potentially be the best device on the market; and they could do it pretty easily. If they simply give the existing x360 14c Chromebook Plus the firm chassis we get in other HP products, a 350+ nit screen, and updated internals, you have the recipe for an absolute winner if the rest of the equation remains largely untouched.

Why we think it might be time

Though I don’t have any specific devices I’m tracking in the Chromium Repositories that hint at HP, Best Buy has given us a clue that the current HP Chromebook Plus x360 14c might be on the way out. While it may be a bit confusing with the other x360 14b Chromebook Plus just now showing up at Best Buy, but don’t be misled; that is a mid-tier device with the Intel i3-N305 inside. I’m sure it will be a nice Chromebook, but it is not an x360 14c replacement.

As you can see, the current x360 14c Chromebook Plus is listed as “Clearance” on Best Buy’s site. It’s discounted (which is always nice), but they don’t put the clearance tag on devices that are going to be on the shelves moving forward.

Unless HP is shifting strategies and only releasing 14a and 14b Chromebooks these days, a new 14c might be waiting in the wings. If it shows up anytime soon, it would likely come with the Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) or 13th-gen Raptor Lake-R chips inside as the upcoming Core Ultra V2 chips (Intel’s Lunar Lake) don’t seem to have any current baseboards in the works according to the Chromium Repositories.

As the outgoing model is outfitted with the 12th-gen Core i3, the step up to 14th-gen Intel silicon would make most sense. We have a few ‘Rex’ (Intel Meteor Lake) boards we’re tracking in addition to the ones already on the market (‘Karis’ – the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 and ‘Screebo’ – ASUS CX54 Chromebook Plus), so there’s a good chance one of those is HP.

Now that this is out there and in the works, I’m digging in to see if any of the other ‘Rex’ development boards could be tied to HP. I sure hope they are, and I hope HP makes the needed tweaks to really position the next x360 14c where it belongs: at the top of the heap.