Over time, Chromebooks have moved to a slimmer, slimmer look and feel in the mid-range and luxurious environment. Thinner devices mean less space for a variety of ports and devices like the original Pixelbook paved the way for the ultra-refined port choice on current Chromebooks. After all, if USB Type-C can do virtually anything you need, why not give your users just a few of them and move on?
I do realize that I appreciate the flexibility that older ports offer, such as SD card slot, headphone jack and USB type A. With this on board your Chromebook, there is less need for dongles, adapters and docking solutions when you are on the go. Yes, they take up space and yes, they look a little less slick on the outside, but over time, your Chromebook really helps to make the experience much simpler in the long run.
One port that has been missing on many Chromebooks for a long time is the full HDMI connection, and it dropped back a bit in 2020. This port disappeared here and there outside of this Chromebook business years ago. For this one, I get it: the HDMI port is large, ugly, and takes up a lot of real estate on the ever-thinner Chromebooks available today. With a small adapter, one of your much smaller USB-C ports can perform the same audio / video tasks, so why not drop this strange port?
I was completely on board with this thought process until a few Chromebooks changed plans in 2020. Devices like the HP Chromebook Pro C640 and the Dell Latitude 7400 both got this port, and so did the beloved Acer Spin 713. With all these devices, I finally used the port during the review process and I have used it countless times on my Spin 713 over the past year.
Whether it’s connected the Chromebook to a larger TV for a video call, presentation or simply to consume media, every time I turned on the HDMI port, it’s been in a time when I did not dongle my , did not have adapter or dock there in my pocket. My main converter for these kinds of tasks is the dock that sits on my desk and I usually do not keep it with me. Now that I have a Chromebook that does not really need it, I simply do not feel that I should have all the extra adapters in my suitcase all the time, and that is honestly a liberating feeling.
Look, I’m all for sleek design and minimal appointments, but Chromebooks (and laptops in general) are functional end-of-day machines, meant for productivity and consumption, and not really built with clean lines as the first priority. I suppose this is all in line with the senseless move to remove the headphone jack on phones and the arguments of numerous creative professionals who think that Apple is taking down all the ports of their Macbook Pro line. Professionals and students need tools, not a cool look, and this is also important on Chromebooks.
Do I think the HDMI port will make a big comeback in 2021 over the range of new Chromebooks? Not really. I’m hope some of it will include it, but I’m not sure if that will happen. It’s just a little weird that the inclusion of a few ‘old’ ports on the Acer Spin 713 helped me see Chromebooks a little more clearly for what they are: functional devices used to get things done. Since these are the kind of devices, the more ports you have at your disposal. While it does not fit into all the plans of all Chromebook manufacturers, I am certainly hopeful that it is still the thinking pattern of some of them. I do not want to think of some less sleek Chromebooks being offered this year, and which still remain in the old ports for those like me who appreciate simple features.
