Google has unveiled a MacBook rival in the touch-enabled Chromebook Pixel which starts selling Friday on Google Play and Best Buy at $US1300 for the Wi-Fi model.

An LTE variant will also be offered, according to Engadget, and orders are now being processed through the same online stores but the Google laptop with faster internet access will not be delivered until April. This model will be a cash setback of $US1500.

The tech site's first take sums up the observation that Google's war with Apple is taking on another platform - the fading PC market.

"The Chromebook Pixel's unibody frame looks and feels somewhat like a MacBook Pro - flanking a comfortable chicklet keyboard and a luxuriously large trackpad with a small dip at its south end," Engadget said.

Designed by Google enginners for mostly online usage, the Pixel will come with options of 32GB or 64GB of SSD internal storage with a complementing 1TB of space on Google Drive for all buyers. No running out of space here but users will have to spend more in terms of availing high-speed net connection.

Or buyers can opt to expand the device's memory by using a portable hard disk that can be connected on any of the two USB ports and a microSD card on the expansion slot.

The Pixel is hardly a wimp too on the processing side as it is armed with a dual-core 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU that taps on a 4GB of RAM for smooth operation.

For a lifestyle that includes many hours of social media engagements, Google made sure that the Pixel will not disappoint with the bevy of features it boast about: a triple-microphone configuration, a hidden speaker, an HD camera, a custom keyboard action for less finger-fatigue and an enhanced smooth glass trackpad.

The display screen flashes a 2560 x 1700 resolution on pixel density of 239ppi, making the new gadget both mobile computing and entertainment delight.

The main goal in designing the Pixel was "make a computer that was easy to use, that was really fast, that looked beautiful ... and make the computer experience better," Google said.

"We wanted people to be immersed in whatever they were doing," in using the Chromebook Pixel, the tech giant added.