This leaked Pixel Laptop will likely run Android, not Chrome OS

Five years ago, you could easily pick up a Google laptop. The Pixelbook Go had just launched, and even the original Pixelbook was still holding its own. But in the years since, it’s felt like Google’s interest in the form factor has waned — we never did get a proper Pixelbook 2, and the Pixel Tablet arrived without an official keyboard. While the Pixel Tablet 2 sounds like it could finally remedy that keyboard oversight, Google is reportedly also working on another return to this category, as we hear about development of a Pixel Laptop.

Google has supposedly green-lit plans for a high-end, premium laptop featuring Pixel branding, according to Android Headlines. While the site affirms that development is underway and Google has assigned a team dedicated to this project codenamed “Snowy,” that’s about the extent of what this report covers.

We’re told to expect reasonably advanced hardware, with the laptop sounding comparable to MacBook Pros or Microsoft’s Surface Laptop, but no details have been shared just yet. The much bigger question, though, is what software this device would run, and Android Headlines thinks Chrome OS would be “likely” but also “not 100% confirmed right now.”

Chrome sounds like the reasonable assumption, sure — but what if Google defies expectations and doubles down on Android? Instead of two-tracking with the Android Pixel Tablet 2 and a Chrome Pixel Laptop, Google could commit to Android across its hardware lineup. And based on what we’ve heard about the company’s shifting software priorities, an Android-powered Pixel Laptop is the bet we’d have to make.

What would that mean for how the Pixel Tablet 2 is positioned? Presumably, we’d be looking at a pretty big gulf in pricing between the two, to say nothing of hardware differences, but right now we just don’t have a lot of details to compare. Hopefully we’ll start getting a better sense of both, and especially this new laptop, in the months to come.