Twelve years ago, when I wrote Why Chromebooks, it seemed completely crazy to hand students a device that was nothing more than a web browser. Back then, bucking the trend to purchase Chromebooks made absolute sense partly because the price gap between platforms was a chasm. Today, with the MacBook Neo, it’s no longer a chasm. Once you factor in Google management licensing, white-glove enrolment, accidental damage cover, and administrative costs a fully equipped educational Chromebook now costs 80 to 90 percent of a MacBook Neo.
When Macbooks and Chromebooks are getting close in price, we need to take a serious look at it.
While the price may be close, hardware performance is not. Anyone who has seen how fast modern Apple silicon chips run, how efficient the hardware is, and how fluid macOS feels knows it delivers an exceptional user experience.
Deployment is no longer a Chrome monopoly
One of the big positives of the Chromebook ecosystem was administrative simplicity. Zero-touch enrolment meant devices could reach students without a technician ever needing to unbox or touch them.
Apple has quietly closed that gap. Through Apple School Manager and modern MDM tools, Mac enrolment is virtually identical. The moment a student opens the lid and connects to Wi-Fi, management profiles drop in, applications install automatically, and security guardrails apply. Chrome may still be slightly more hands-off, but it is no longer the sole contender for zero-touch deployment.
The broken promise of the web
A decade ago, we bet on a pure web-first future: light, browser-based applications with zero local management overhead.
While directionally, the web has turned out to be the right platform. Web based tools have become the bedrock of productivity for school. However, when it comes to Chromebooks, instead of just simple web apps, Chrome OS evolved into a complex hybrid. Google stacked on local Android Apps and isolated Linux virtual machines, which store data locally on the machine with no native, automated cloud backup mechanism.
Chrome OS set out to eliminate the local PC with a web-first approach, only to re-create one with extra friction.
In addition, Chromebooks have been shipping with native pen based and stylus input for ten years now and we’re yet to see any meaningful integration with Google Docs. Almost every educational Chromebook ships with a touchscreen and active stylus, yet core Google Workspace apps like Docs, Sheets, and Slides offer no stylus support. Specialised pen-based apps like Cursive remain locked to local hardware rather than accessible web apps and the low quality of the pen input and lack of ecosystem has pushed our Art faculty to invest in iPads in addition to the Chromebook every student has.
Rather than a ladened Chromebook full of bells and whistles I'm still wondering where the cheaper devices without touchscreens, stylus input or world view cameras are. Could we not have traded these features for a bit more ram and compute power?
Looking ahead to the upcoming "Google Book", there is little indication this strategy will change. A heavily AI-first OS is likely not what schools are actively seeking, particularly when recent Chrome OS updates have focused on consumer features like phone mirroring and consumer AI tools. These additions feel out of touch with classroom needs and are often actively unwanted or disabled by school IT departments. Despite education representing a majority of the Chromebook business, Google appears to be sleeping on innovation that could genuinely help in the classroom.
Reliability and performance friction
Long-standing OS instability continues to wear down user confidence. We regularly deal with Chromebooks silently wiping local user profiles and almost every generation face bugs with touchscreen clicking, keyboard issues, battery cables disconnecting and more.
As senior students start to demand more of their laptops, running 20 or more tabs on entry-level processors with 4GB to 8GB of RAM is a real challenge on the Chromebook and something the Macbook Neo is able to do without skipping a beat.
Scaffolding digital citizenship in senior school
This shift doesn't mean Chrome disappears entirely. Chromebooks still make sense in junior school (Years 7–8) as a more "on-rails" platform.
As primary schools reduce structured technology integration, we’re anticipating a widening gap in foundational digital literacy when students arrive in secondary school. New students will need stronger scaffolds and guardrails while building digital competence. Moving to the MacBook Neo for the senior school (Years 10-12) directly addresses this arc by offering increased capability—unlocking native software, local creative tools, curiosity to explore, and smoother multitasking for senior school resources and coursework.
At the same time, this shift introduces increased accountability. It transitions students away from an all-inclusive, break-and-swap safety net we enjoy with Chromebooks in the junior years to more direct responsibility for their device care, with excess fees for device damage and considerations for backing up local data during a repair process. Matching increased freedom with real-world responsibility reflects the developmental growth we want to see as students mature through senior school and are taken through our digital citizenship curriculum in Junior School.
In Chromebooks trying to be everything (local virtual machines, Android Apps, offline media, etc) Chrome OS lost its simple, web-first vision.
The irony is that right now a MacBook Neo is a better Chromebook.