The laptop I bought in 2015 needed to meet most of these specs.
The most likely contenders were:
- Google Chromebook Pixel 2 (3:2)
- Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (3:2)
- The rest of the 16:9 laptop manufacturers' Broadwell-U refreshes
| Planned | Current | Alternate choice | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Device | Chromebook Pixel | See contenders | Dell XPS 13 9343 | Chromebook Pixel 2* |
| CPU | 17W Ivy Bridge i5-3427U | 15W-28W Broadwell-U i5/i7 | 15W Broadwell i7-5500U | 15W Broadwell-U i5/i7 |
| GPU | GT2 294.4 GFLOPS | GT2 to GT3e | GT2 364.8 GFLOPS | GT2 364.8 GFLOPS |
| Memory | 4GB | ≥8GB | 8GB | 8-16GB |
| OS drive | 32GB iSSD | Any M.2 x4 (Replacing with SM951) | 512GB SM951 | 32-64GB SSD |
| Display | 3:2 12.85" 239 ppi touch | 3:2 12-13.5" ≥200 ppi | 16:9 13.3" 276 ppi touch | 3:2 12.85" 239 ppi touch |
| Brightness | 400 nit | ≥300 nit | 400 nit | 400 nit |
| Weight | 3.35 lbs | ≤3 lbs | 2.8 lbs | 3.3 lbs |
| Wi-Fi | 2x2 802.11n | ≥2x2 802.11ac | 2x2 802.11ac | 2x2 802.11ac |
| Bluetooth | 3.0 | 4.1 and LE | 4.0 and LE | 4.0 and LE |
| SD reader | ~90MB/s UHS-I SD reader | ~280MB/s UHS-II SD reader | ~90MB/s UHS-I SD reader | ~90MB/s UHS-I SD reader |
| Touchpad | Glass | Glass | Glass | Glass |
| Chrome use | 5 hours | ≥8 hours | ~7-10 hours | 12 hours |
| USB | 2x Type A (2.0) | ≥2x Type A or ≥1x Type C + ≥1x Type A | 2x Type A (3.0) | 2x Type C, 2x Type A (3.0) |
| Video out | MiniDP 1.2 | USB Type C or MiniDP 1.3 | MiniDP 1.2 | USB Type C |
| OS | Chrome OS + crouton | Chrome OS, OS X, or Windows | Windows | Chrome OS |