Google launches new Chromebook Pixel at a lower price with two USB Type-C ports, $999 for Core i5, $1,299 for Core i7, now for sale on Google Store
Meet Google's New Chromebook Pixel — Google's Chromebook Pixel has always been an aspirational machine meant to show off Chrome OS at its best.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google's Chromebook Pixel has been positioned as an aspirational machine meant to show off Chrome OS at its best, and this launch keeps that role while cutting the entry price to $999 for a Core i5 model, with a Core i7 variant at $1,299 sold through the Google Store. The two USB Type-C ports make it one of the earliest laptops to bet on that connector.
The price move foreshadows where the Pixel hardware line goes next in the related coverage: later that year the Pixel C Android tablet lands on the Google Store at $499, by 2018 the Pixel Slate arrives as a Chrome OS tablet from $599, and in 2019 Google ships the Pixelbook Go at $649 — a steady walk down the price curve from the Pixel's original flagship positioning.
First-order effects
- Buyers get the premium-build Chrome OS reference machine at a materially lower entry price, with the Core i7 tier reserved at $1,299 for those who want more headroom.
- Early adopters buying through the Google Store are effectively committing to USB Type-C-only connectivity, making the Pixel a test bed for the connector's ecosystem.
Second-order effects
- OEMs building Chromebooks now face a Google-made machine undercutting them on price while showcasing the platform's best hardware, pressuring their own pricing and spec choices against the Pixel's reference design.
- Peripherals and docks built around legacy ports lose relevance for Pixel buyers, nudging the accessory market toward Type-C-first products.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern in the coverage holds — Pixel C at $499, Pixel Slate at $599, Pixelbook Go at $649 — the Pixel line settles into a recurring role as Google's hardware showcase that resets expectations downward each generation rather than a volume business of its own.
The trend: Google's Pixel hardware line is evolving from a pricey aspirational showcase into progressively cheaper mainstream devices, using each generation to reset what buyers expect Chrome OS hardware should cost.