This, plus it is the only phone I’m aware of where you can upgrade the modem to 5G or more/different bands later.
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What info suggest they went with lower end hardware?
Reading comprehension not your thing? Have a friend read you the sentence before the one you quoted and ask them to explain it to you.
There’s also this report from Phoronix:
“…they’ve reportedly burned through much of their original funding and according to sources already took on a few million dollars in outside funding.”
I pre-ordered last year. I want a daily driver. I want Purism to have a successful launch of this product. I’m open to other interpretations of these events that make sense. I’m deeply concerned that we’re looking at phone closer to 500mb of ram than 4GB. The blown deadlines, secrecy and Twilight Zone forum that serves only as an echo chamber for fanboys and links back to information posted on the Purism website months earlier isn’t doing anything to calm my concerns.
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They posted this video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEzRgjHaIZo
Says shipping Q3, still no final word on what we’re actually getting 
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Well. The official line has always been “at least 3GB RAM” and they never backed away from it.
Actually, it was worded that way because the “fallback option” (i.MX6) only supports 3GB RAM.
Also, instead of lowering specs, they increased the price for new buyers. I bought for $599, in January it went to $649, and it was always announced to go up to $699 close to launch.
It has been confirmed to go up soon (end of June), together with finalized specs.
So, don’t worry. You’ll get your 3GB. Or more.
And in 10…15 days you’ll know.
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I do agree that for a phone to be ready to ship in a few months things must already be in action.
This page with the known hardware details has not changed in some time.
I am only asking you to substantiate your post…
Never is a long, long time. Things change. Let me bring you up to date. The FAQ currently shows, “3 GB minimum (subject to change)”. If they were committed to 3 GB or more all they needed to say was, “3 GB minimum”. The, “subject to change” bit leaves the door open for less than 3 GB. Compounding the issue if you go to the order page they don’t even bother with the word salad - it simply says, “TBD”. Boy, the Kool-Aid is strong in here!
The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Why try to provoke the fence sitters into locking in with the threat of a price increase before they announce their specs? Why keep the specs a state secret? If they are shipping in < 60 days they know what the parts will be - they’ve already ordered them. If they were top notch the specs would be a selling point and they’d be shouting them from the mountaintops.
Let’s say the wording leaves that room and is therefore suboptimal, but they will not downgrade a promised spec. That’s why i.MX8 was not promised before it was certain.
And seriously, how much sense does it make to, at about the same time, rise the price $50 and lower the spec?
It’s the best way to drive away any additional customers. You’d rather rise it a few bucks more, keep the spec and actually sell something.
Wording is tricky. The spec also says “modem w/ single SIM on replaceable M.2 card” but it actually means “SIM card slot on mainboard, replacable modem on M.2 card”.
Wording is tricky. “they never backed away” only references the past, “Never is a long, long time” would make more sense if I said they never will. I didn’t say they never will. (But they won’t 
)
I’m certain enough to bet on 3GB+.
I know, I’ll not convince you, but you’ll see soon. 
P.S: end of Q3 is ~100 days away, not 60.
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Reading comprehension not your thing?
I never claimed my interpretation was the only one. I specifically stated that I’m open to other interpretations. Rather than provide your own, you ask me to substantiate my interpretation. Not a charge, an interpretation.
I know this is an old interview (August 2017) between Bryan Lunduke and Todd Weaver, but in it Todd makes the point that he wants to provide the maximum RAM that the CPU they choose supports. For the iMX6 that was 3GB. He also talks about evaluating the iMX8.
At any rate, we’ll know soon enough. Whether in 15 days or 50, both those are a drop in the bucket in my life 
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if we are talking about Purism it is Cool-Aid not Kool-Aid …
Since the i.MX 8M supports up to 8GB RAM, I’ll be counting on it.
I’m really hoping for 4GB of RAM and a 12 MP camera, but Phoronix reports that Purism had to take out a loan of several million to complete the development of the Librem 5, so the company is probably pinching pennies at this point, especially considering that it is also trying to roll out the Librem One service, and the PureOS Store at the same time.
I’m really hoping that the Librem 5 release is a success, because it sounds like Purism is counting on several million in extra sales to pay back that loan. I imagine that working at Purism isn’t a job for the faint-hearted.
If we don’t get the best specs, I will still want the phone, and I suspect that many are in the same boat. I see this as an investment in developing an alternative OS that will make a better future for everyone. Google and Apple will hesitate to abuse their users if they know that their users have a viable alternative in mobile Linux.
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There was some brief mention of that Phoronix article in the Librem 5 Matrix room, and a few Purism employees said they have no idea where Phoronix got that info, suggesting it isn’t (entirely) true. I don’t think Purism’s finances are worrying low at the moment.
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I just want an official update, that’s all. 
They are releasing videos on YouTube of the dev kit running different things. Possibly leading to an announcement? Purism has consistently said they are on track for third quarter.
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Yep, I’ve been watching the videos every day. In my opinion, the videos are just showing us what we all already know. You can open up terminal on the phone, You can browse the internet on linux, wooo 
They are posting lots of software updates but we also have like 6 other OSes being worked on. All of which we are free to use, change daily, all for no cost.
We paid for the phone too, you know, the physical hardware part. We have not gotten an update on any of this in months. we have no idea how things are going with it, nothing. Why? at least tell us that?
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True about the OSes, but Purism is focusing on PureOS. Their Libhandy software will be reused by others. I still say they are showing us the software running to boost hype for a near phone reveal. Seems like a marketing stunt. Purism is sticking to their guns regarding a third quarter launch.
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This post dated June 20th @nicole.faerber says
we do not use any PCIe interface to the modem. The M.2 socket for the modem will not have PCIe signals routed to it. The modem control and data will run over USB interface, the audio data will be routed over the PCM interface of the card. We also expect that VoLTE audio data will be routed through the PCM interface, but this is still t.b.d.
This to me means they’ve not finalized the hardware layout yet. If that’s true they have not started production of the hardware boards.
This update Bryan says
Side note: If you pre-order the Librem 5 before July 31st, you save $50. And fifty bucks is fifty bucks.
That said, I doub’t they’ll post anything about the hardware in the first few days of Q3 like people are are guessing.
And the weekly videos have yet to show real phone features, like making calls or sending an MMS to iPhone/Android.
Ah well, I’m still glad I pre-ordered. It shows everyone that there is a market for linux phones.
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That would be awesome. (That would be right up there with the S10 and way ahead of the iPhone XS.) I would be happy with 3GB or 4GB. I’m not going to be using it as a desktop replacement.
We can speculate endlessly, or we can be a little bit patient.
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Either that or it means that different modems take their VoLTE audio data differently. The underlying stack is vastly different to conventional cellular telephony (it’s far closer to a “normal” VoIP system) and as such it might be fed via the data port instead of the audio port.
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