Back in October, Google released the Google Pixelbook, a portable laptop/tablet hybrid machine that runs Chrome OS. We got our hands on one of the Pixelbooks from Google, and we decided to pit it against the iPad Pro, Apple's tablet that's powerful enough to serve as a PC replacement.
Priced starting at $999, the Pixelbook is more expensive than even the largest iPad Pro. Apple charges $649 for the entry-level 10.5-inch iPad Pro and $799 for the entry-level 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
For $999, the Pixelbook comes equipped with a 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD, with all of the components upgradeable for a higher price tag. It has a 12.3-inch touchscreen display, putting it on par with Apple's larger iPad Pro, and it offers 10 hours of battery life.
The Pixelbook is just as portable as the iPad Pro, and it has the benefit of a 2-in-1 design with a 360-degree rotating hinge, which means it can be used as a traditional laptop or folded back for use as a tablet, complete with accompanying pen. As a laptop, the Pixelbook is on par with other ultraportable notebooks, but as a tablet, its keyboard is adding some extra thickness you won't see on the iPad Pro.
Though convertibility is a nice feature and wins out over the traditional tablet form factor, Google can't quite compete with Apple when it comes to software and performance due to issues with some unoptimized Android apps running on the Pixelbook. The iPad Pro's A10X Fusion chip is incredibly speedy, and optimizations like Metal 2 mean apps run super fast and super smooth on Apple's tablet.
The Pixelbook isn't slow by any means, and ChromeOS does offer increased security much like iOS, but the Pixelbook's high price tag, operating system limitations, and size are tough to swallow compared to the lower-priced and just-as-capable iPad Pro.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)I had the Ipad Pro 10.5 for a week, it did nothing better than my regular iPad that costed $250 on sale at Microcenter, so I'm like what kinda fool am I to pay another $500 just to have a stylus, thus I returned it.
Basically, if you want a real computer, than go get a real PC and stop playing around fooling yourself into thinking the iPad Pro or ChromeOS is a real computer, its not. If you want an iPad for reading or playing games, than save yourself alot of money and get you the regular iPad. I've seen the 32GB version go on sale for $250 many times during the holiday and its plenty fast (until the crooks at Apple slows it down so they can force you to buy a new one).
The Pixelbook is just as portable as the iPad Pro...
What is the basis of this statement?The Pixelbook weighs 2.4 lbs and has a volume of 39.67 cu.in.
The 12.9" iPad Pro weighs 1.49 lbs and has a volume of 28.12 cu.in.
Isn't ChromeOS useless without internet?
ChromeOS maybe (have not used); but Pixelbook runs Android apps also.Still think the iPad Pro and it`s ecosystem is far superior though..
Apps I have used on Android devices are typically pretty clunky and not nearly as good as their iOS counterparts. Also, the overall amount of quality apps on Android seems to be very low.
Then you really weren’t looking.Isn't ChromeOS useless without internet?
That hasn’t been true for a long time.