Owners of Google Chromebooks are learning of late that just like milk, cheese and bread, their device has an expiration date.
At first glance, the Google Chromebook looks fantastic. It’s light, powerful, user-friendly, relatively cheap and perfect for those who need a machine purely for business or education. What’s not to love right? Well turns out the low-price tag may not be as appealing as it first appears.
Credit: PCMag
Chromebooks have what is known as an ‘Auto Update Expiration Date’ or AUE. Once your device reaches this date, it will still work, but Google will no longer provide important updates, which could affect your devices performance and security, so it is advised you don’t use it once that date comes around.
Unfortunately, as Chromebooks operate on the Chrome OS, but use non-Google hardware, the tech colorful tech giant can only guarantee updates on a specific device for so long, meaning that eventually, they just aren’t able to support it anymore.
Now there is some good news in all of this, so don’t go throwing out your Chromebook just yet, as it most likely has plenty of life left in it. Google make it extremely easy to check when your devices AUE will be. They provide a list with each device and its AUE, meaning as long as you know the brand and model name of your device, you’ll know the exact date it will ‘expire’.
Whenever a new model of Chromebook is released, the list is updated right afterwards, ensuring those looking to buy the latest model are aware of its lifespan.
An example of the Samsung Chromebook AUE list
Credit: Google
