Update on Librem 5 hardware?

On the product page I still see a lot of TBD. Any updates on what hardware we’re going to get?

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The FAQ is probably the most comprehensive public document with hardware details at the moment.

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Even in the FAQ there is a lot of TBD. have you guys made any hard decisions yet?

RAM: 3 GB minimum (subject to change)
Screen: 720×1440 high-DPI 5.5″ – 5.7″ (glossy)
NFC: No (subject to change)
Front Camera: TBD
Back Camera: TBD
Battery: User-replaceable
Specs like exact dimensions, weight, maximum SD card capacity, camera specs, other screen specs, battery life, SAR values, etc, are still to be determined.

I understand that you’ve been doing a lot of work on the software side but that all can be updated months or years later. The lack of hardware updates has me worried. Pinephone has their hardware listed on their website and they don’t expect to ship until 2020… Q3 starts next month :slight_smile:

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The FAQ is woefully incomplete with regard to the hardware details, and it doesn’t provide much more information than the product page. Though there have been multiple blog posts in the past couple of months in the “Hardware” category, the last blog post that actually had substantial, new information on hardware development was the February update. The April update only said that the board schematic was being worked on and that cameras were being looked. at. The May update only contained one sentence about hardware, and it was just to say that the schematic was still being worked on.

The only component present in the FAQ spec list that wasn’t present in the February update is the DAC. The DAC was confirmed in a forum post at the end of March, but wasn’t included in any official updates that I’ve seen.

Surely there has been more progress in the last four months than just choosing a DAC. If not, then I don’t see how Purism plans to ship finished phones with three months left to do everything else.

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100% agreed here. My question is still the same, why no hardware update? I simply want to know what’s going on and the software updates are, in my opinion, useless. Don’t get me wrong, its nice to see they’re making progress on the software side but to me the most important thing is the hardware. Do they have a supplier? do they have the hardware? have they even picked the hardware? does it work? does everything have foss drivers? have they built a prototype? what other problems have they had?

For all the people saying “don’t write updates, focus on building the phone”. Look at all the posts they’ve done recently. Which boots faster, You Are in Control, “see your junk”. The amount of time to update the product page or even the FAQ with the hardware information is nothing compared to these.

the lack of hardware updates has me nervous ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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There are some hints that we’ll get a big announcement beginning of July.
I’d say either 1st or 4th, depending on which they find more dramatic :sunglasses:

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Could you hint me to the hints? :wink:

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Several comments. This one makes me believe we’ll see 10 or 15 videos leading towards a big announcement July 1st or 4th.

The videos are on the fediverse too, of course, but without that hint.

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It suggests that they keep hardware update for a big official announcement!

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If they’re still claiming 3Q delivery it means they’ve finalized the hardware and placed orders for parts already without telling anyone. This suggests we’re getting the lower end hardware options across the board. The secrecy is probably a combination of Purism running out of cash and not wanting to negatively impact new orders.

Yes, I know a large number of buyers will be happy with a block of wood glued to a glass rectangle as long as there’s a Linux sticker somewhere on the box, but a handful of us want a good phone that’s usable as a daily driver. I wasn’t expecting 5G, but without TMO’s expansion bands (B12 & B71) my phone will be useless between Salt Lake City and Chicago.

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I too want a reasonable phone that I can use as my daily driver. I get that this is the first version of something that’s never been done before and it’s likely not going to be ready when we get the device.

The thing is, if you give me a brick with a screen, there’s not much we can do with software no matter how much time goes by. You’ll never be able to use it between Salt Lake City and Chicago.

If you give us a phone with good hardware, the software can come later. You’ll eventually be able to do things with it.

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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 :thinking:

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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 :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:)
I’m certain enough to bet on 3GB+.

I know, I’ll not convince you, but you’ll see soon. :sunglasses:

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.