A recent rumour suggests AMD Zen3-based Chromebooks could be on their way soon. Evidence suggests that there are several new models are incoming which use Ryzen 5000U series processors. 

The development was originally spotted in the Chromium Gerrit, which indicates that several new motherboards for Chromebooks are in the works, and each uses the AMD Ryzen 'Cezanne' processors. 

Android Police also found evidence to suggest that these AMD-based laptops will also be useable as touch-screen tablets, so we could see these Zen-3 models as 2-in-1 laptop/tablets running Chrome OS with a tablet view for touchscreen use. 

It's been clear for the past few years that Intel has been facing stiffer competition in the world of processing power. In the PC world, that competition has come from AMD, which has been consistently pumping out powerful Ryzen-branded processors

Until 2020 however, it had a couple of relatively 'safe' markets: Macs and Chromebooks. Now, those two no longer look like the safety nets for Intel's business that they used to be. 

Apple recently announced and released new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini models powered by the custom Apple M1 chip, and with the evidence suggesting Chromebooks might also come in even more powerful Ryzen flavour, Intel is facing even tougher competition than it's had to endure in its recent history. 

Whether or not these powerful Chromebooks come to market is yet to be seen, but the fact that they're in the works and with the recent M1 Macs on the market, it's safe to say the ball is well and truly in Intel's court.

Pressure is mounting for it to innovate like it has done in the past and stay competitive in a world that's seemingly moving slowly away from it.