Google extends software updates for many 2020 Chromebooks to 8 years

Google today announced some pretty significant Chromebook-related news at the British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT). During the show, Google revealed that many 2020 Chromebooks will see over eight years of software updates.

This is a notable extension of the previously confirmed six years of updates. In November last year, Google added an extra year onto select Chromebooks, but a full eight years is pretty exceptional.

Now, to be clear, this doesn’t mean that 2020 Chromebooks will see eight years of updates across the board. As Android Central clarifies in this post, the eight years of updates will apply to new Chromebooks on the same 2020 platform as the new Lenovo 10e Chromebook Tablet and Acer Chromebook 712. These devices run on a specific Chrome OS platform that other companies will likely also use.

Related: The best Chromebooks you can buy right now

However, companies might use an older or different platform for their 2020 Chromebooks, which could negate those devices from getting updates through 2028. As ever, the best way to know how long your Chrome OS device will see updates is to check the AUE list Google provides.

Still, the idea of buying a Chromebook in 2020 and then seeing updates until the end of the decade approaches is pretty cool. As a reminder, these updates to Chrome OS happen silently in the background, so you never need to worry about if your Chromebook is up-to-date or not.

For a list of the best Chromebooks you can buy, check out our roundup here.