AMD Adds ZEN 3 To Premium Chromebooks

AMD has expanded its Chromebook-processor lineup with four products based on the Barcelo design, including the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 5825C, that target systems priced at $600 or more.

Linley Gwennap

AMD has expanded its Chromebook-processor lineup with four Zen 3 products based on the Barcelo design. Starting with the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 5825C, these chips target mainly premium Chromebooks that sell for $600 or more. They offer greater performance and power efficiency than the company’s original Chromebook models, which appeared in 2020. The new chips are in production; system shipments will begin soon.

The 5825C features eight Zen 3 CPUs plus a Vega GPU. It can operate all eight cores at 2.0GHz in a 15W TDP, enabling ultrathin designs. The new products are essentially identical to the Barcelo laptop processors released earlier this year, including the eight-core 5825U. The new product number, however, allows AMD to offer better pricing for Chromebooks than for Windows PCs. But the low-end Ryzen 3 5125C has no U-series analog; it’s the company’s first dual-core Zen 3 processor.

Although Chromebook vendors initially focused on low-cost customers who didn’t want to pay a premium for Windows, the market has evolved to serve a broader range of prices. Premium systems sell for up to $1,000 or more, offering the same features and styling as high-end PCs. To do so, these Chromebooks employ the same x86 processors, typically relying on U-series models with 15W TDP to extend battery life and enable trim designs. Lower-price Chromebooks use a mix of low-cost x86 chips, such as Intel’s Pentium and Celeron, and Arm-compatible chips from vendors such as MediaTek.