Yes, you can get 12 months of Gemini Advanced with older Chromebook Plus models

Since last week, I’ve been struggling with a specific part of Google’s new announcements about the Chromebook Plus and ChromeOS: free Google One AI Premium offer (which includes Gemini Advanced) to users who purchase a new Chromebook Plus model.

With a presentation that really exploded the idea that AI doesn’t have to be behind an expensive paywall, I was very excited to watch Google offers Gemini Advanced to Chromebook Plus users for a full 12 months absolutely free. It strengthened and reinforced the points they were making on stage and it was one of the things I couldn’t wait to show people.

The fine print always gets you

But after the presentation and over the past week, I’ve been asking questions. What about Chromebook Plus models purchased a month ago? A week ago? 3 months ago? What about all those devices that aren’t branded Chromebook Plus but have all the Chromebook Plus upgrades? How will this free offer be expanded in a way that doesn’t drive out a bunch of new users just to buy a Chromebook Plus model a few weeks or months ago?

And the initial answers to these questions weren’t great, and they came in the form of the new Chromebook Perk that is featured prominently on the Chromebook Perks page now. When you dig a little, some pretty nasty language is there to greet you, and when I read it, my initial excitement about this new feature literally turned to horror. How could we explain this to all the people we’ve been encouraging to buy Chromebook Plus models in recent months?

We have tested and the offer works for older devices

So in light of that, I wanted to give it a try before going on an all-out rant about it all. I took a couple of off-brand Chromebook Plus models that we have in the office and used a couple of non-work email accounts to try to cash in on the offer. And it worked on 3 devices on 3 email addresses for me!

I then messaged Joe and asked him to try the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook and we hit a snag. I also had a friend of mine at the office giving him his Chromebook Plus model that he bought a few months ago. Again, it was a ban and the Perks site simply said – after running checks – that the deal had expired. So, I thought maybe it was a coincidence that the few I had success with worked at all.

But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. So, with my friend’s approval, we ran a Powerwash on his device, ran the new OOBE setup we talked about yesterday, and this time the benefit worked! An update was received during setup, and although I THINK he was already on ChromeOS 125, his device may not have been.

Either way, an update to 125 and a Powerwash did the trick, so I instructed Joe to do the same. And it worked. And to finalize the theory, I entered our private Chrome Unboxed Plus Discord community (learn more about it at the end of this post) and asked those good people to try this method if they were able. AND The resounding result is almost every person who has updated, Powerwashed and tried to use Gemini Perk on their Chromebook Plus has gotten it – regardless of purchase date!

There are a couple that haven’t done the job yet, but they are outside the US. Both of their places are on the press approved list, so it should work; but I’m still unsure why it isn’t now. However, to Most of those who have tried this method have had success, and there’s a very good chance you will too.

Just back up your local files, update to ChromeOS 125, and then proceed to Powerwash your Chromebook. Once you’ve set everything up again, head over to the Chromebook benefits page, click on the great Gemini offer at the top, and hopefully you’ll be able to take part in this pretty amazing deal.

But do it sooner rather than later! There are always layers to these kinds of deals, and there may be some deeper reason why Google doesn’t intend to allow this on older Chromebook Plus devices. While I strongly disagree with this notion, I have no idea how long this window will stay open. Do not lose it!