Google is increasing how many updates Chromebooks get from eight to 10 years. ChromeOS is also adding adaptive charging and an energy saver mode.
Starting next year, Chromebooks released from 2021 onwards will get 10 years of updates “after the platform was released.” The Auto Update Expiration (AUE) was last boosted in 2020, with Google touting that a decade is “more than any other operating system commits to today.”
A platform is a series of components that are designed to work together — something a manufacturer selects for any given Chromebook. To ensure compatibility with our updates, we work with all the component manufacturers within a platform (for things like the processor and Wi-Fi) to develop and test the software on every single Chromebook.
Google will also give existing owners (and IT admins, like schools) of Chromebooks released before 2021 the option to “extend automatic updates to 10 years from the platform’s release when they receive their last automatic update.”
Meanwhile, with adaptive charging, your Chromebook will stay at 80% to extend overall battery health. It will “fully charge before you typically disconnect from power,” like when you leave for the day.
In the Settings > Device > Power menu, there will be an on/off toggle for “Adaptive charging.” Admins can enable this by default on managed devices. There will hopefully be the ability to charge to full immediately, like on Android and other OSes that offer equivalent functionality.
Google also showed a “Charge limit” preference where “maximum capacity is reduced to extend battery lifespan” as the battery ages.
Lastly, Google is adding an “Energy saver” “to increase your battery life” by reducing or turning off “energy-intensive processes.” There’s a toggle in settings for the overall functionality, while ChromeOS will automatically turn it on when you hit low battery, or 20% charge. That notification will let you “Turn off energy saver.” The Chrome browser already offers an Energy (and Memory) Saver.
Adaptive charging and the Energy saver are coming to ChromeOS in the “coming months.” These features will be available for a “majority of compatible platforms.”
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