Blog Post: Librem 14 Progress – Hardware Development

About a month ago we approved the schematics for our Librem 14 main board, which is a fully custom Purism design. After that the schematics, which describe which electronic components are connected to which and how, needs to be turned in to a PCB design. This is a complicated and time-consuming process. We are happy to announce that this has been completed and first PCBs are being made and assembled as we speak . This is a great step forward since it will also allow us to to get started with something we have not talked about that much yet…

Read the full post to find out about new Librem 14 progress including EC development and notification LEDs:

10 Likes

looks like it’s gonna’ be a special Christmas :slight_smile: congratulations are in order for the firmware progress ! if only i could tweak the fan curve in the Librem Mini …

1 Like

Great news indeed. Do you have an estimate on the timelines when the new laptops would be in users hands?

We are still shooting for early Q4.

2 Likes

I have an RGB LED, as a standalone device, and the ability to mix the three colors cleanly is a bit limited - so I don’t get very good color production. In other words, the ability to convey bits of information in the color is limited by the quality of the device rather than the quality of the viewer’s eyesight. Still, it is better than a single color LED that is either on or off (1 bit).

I hope the component that Purism is using is better than the one I have.

Thanks for the article. I’m very happy to read about some of the technical aspects of the Librem 14. I really like the direction you’ve been heading with it. I’m especially happy about the battery and fan control improvements.

Really looking forward to the delivery!

exposing the controls directly to the OS is the BEST part yet (for me anyway) :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

@Kyle_Rankin will rowhammer resistant so-dimms be used on the Librem14?

1 Like

Checking again… Can you share any updates on the progress?

1 Like

Things are moving along but nothing new to report.

1 Like

New update: https://puri.sm/posts/librem-14-shipping-in-december/

3 Likes

Could you explain

Intel has industry-wide supply issues with the i7-10th gen CPUs

Is it linked to the move from 14 nm to 10 nm processors with Ice Lake?
Is the issue mainly for i7-10710U, so you could choose an alternative model in the same generation?

Oh well. I hope it’s worth the wait.

I don’t have a lot of technical details to share on why (that’s a question for Intel) only that to my understanding it affects a number of 10th gen CPUs and not just the specific model we use in the Librem 14.

1 Like

If it’s going to be December 2020, is a switch to Tiger Lake still feasible? Core i7-1185G7 is actually $17 cheaper than i7-10710U(according to the ark :grin:), yields the largest performance jump in Intel CPU for a long time and it has Thunderbolt 4 integrated into it.

1 Like

Bummer it’s delayed :slightly_frowning_face:. Changing CPU is more like changing out the engine then changing the tyres. The motherboard would need changes to handle the new plumbing the CPU needs.

While this would be most excellent, I doubt it is feasible. It would require a lot of changes beyond just the CPU. If they did it, it would delay shipment by, what I’m guessing, would be another 6 months.

Don’t get me wrong, if they came out and said it is delayed because they are doing that very thing, I’d be happy.

BUT, even with things exactly as they are now, I’m still very happy with the L14.

What I would REALLY love, is if it could have a touchscreen added. From Purism’s perspective this also position their laptop in direct competition with things like the XPS 13.

For anyone who wants what the XPS offers but wants a device they can repair, etc. the L14 is a clear contender.

I wish Purism would morph into the new age Thinkpad. All we need are a trackpoint and a touchscreen, and we would be there.

All that said, keep up the great work Purism!

1 Like

Lenovo has a Thinkpad X1 carbon with Fedora available with touchscreen and trackpad. :smiley:

With soldered RAM…

:unamused:

2 Likes

Would it be possible to order smaller batches as it would give you the option to deliver maybe a few machines/week for example starting from the first orders, or is there a complete shortage (or due to the custom order) that would restrict you to get even few boards a week?