Been a while since I've used a chromebook but iirc there's ALSO root access that's just a bit more difficult to access, and you do actually need to access it from time to time for various reasons, or at least you used to.

You're thinking of Crouton, the old method of using linux on a Chromebook (which involved disabling boot protection and setting up a second linux install in a chroot, with a keybind that allowed you to toggle between the two environments). It was including a

Crostini is the new containerized version that is both officially supported and integrated into ChromeOS

This is out of touch; they were mad before and they will be mad again. Lots of people spend a huge chunk of their modest disposable income on high end gaming gear, and the only upside of these issues for them is that eventually, YEARS down the line, capacity/supply issues MIGHT calm down in a way that yields some benefits.

They're going to realize soon enough that they've basically just been told that the extremely shitty problem they thought they'd moved beyond is back with a vengeance and the next generation of gaming cards has the potential to make the past few rounds of scalping shit-shows look tame.

I feel like if they were going to do this right now they would have offered 32gb configurations on the M1 devices... as it stands they're going to have to offer attractive ~$2k devices for creative professionals who don't need bleeding edge cpu performance but would like a 20h battery and native ios apps.