In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, when educational institutions were forced to switch to remote work, US schools bought millions of laptops and mostly turned to devices based on Chrome OS. However, according to US PIRG, a research and education organization, a significant number of these Chromebooks have already failed and are too expensive to repair.

A study by PIRG indicated that Chromebooks are more difficult to upgrade and repair than Windows laptops – in particular due to the unavailability or high cost of some parts (screens, hinges, keyboards). For example, the researchers found that nearly half of Acer’s Chromebook keyboards are missing from the Internet, and a third of the rest are priced at $89.99 or more (almost half the price of a typical $200 Chromebook).

Some schools reportedly purchased additional batches of Chromebooks just to get the parts they needed.

“These high costs may force schools to reconsider choosing Chromebooks as a cost-saving strategy,” the report said.

Another issue is the Chromebook’s auto-update end date (something users have been complaining about for years). Google currently provides 8 years of auto-updates for Chromebooks, but the countdown starts from the moment the company certifies the device, not the moment it reaches the user’s hands. By the time the educational institution acquires and configures them, half of this period may pass – that is, the period of auto-updates is reduced to 4-5 years.

“A few years after starting to use the devices, schools are left with boxes of computers with working components that turn into trash, and are forced to buy new laptops,” the report says.

According to PIRG estimates, if the shelf life of the 31.8 million Chromebooks purchased in 2020 were twice as long, it would help reduce CO2e emissions by 4.6 million tons (equivalent to removing 900,000 cars from the road for a year).

The research group recommends that Google extend the auto-update period for all models to 10 years after the launch date, make device components more standardized and produce “at least 10% inventory” of parts.

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Google is also advised to cancel the rejection of remote control of Chromebooks and install network operating systems (in particular, Linux), which will make the resale of laptops more attractive to users.

“Choosing an operating system is not only a consumer’s right, it will increase the resale and reuse value of the laptop for years,” the authors of the study write.

Google representative Peter Du told The Verge that the automatic update period has already been extended (from five years in 2016 to eight in 2020), and the company is working with partners to use components that are easier to repair, and also on creating manufacturing processes with fewer emissions.

“Regular Chromebook software updates add new features and improve the device’s security every four weeks, allowing us to continuously improve the software, ensuring that older devices continue to work safely and reliably until their hardware limitations make it difficult to upgrade,” the company said in a statement. .