What happened to Librem 15?

Hardware Librem 13/15
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Hello everybody.
I’m curious about what happened to Librem 15, as it ceased to be mentioned on the Purism website. Is this line of laptops ended, or perhaps there will be Librem 16 or something like that? I ask, because I’m interested in buying Librem 15 or, if it will exist, Librem 16 in the future.

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I disagree with @Caliga and expect that Librem 16 (or maybe 17, because the 15 one was actually 15.6") should appear soon. These two laptops serve very different markets. As Purism themselves said “Desktop replacement” vs “Road warrior”.

Also those laptops are almost identical except the screen and battery. I don’t think it makes too big overhead.

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@fsflover
Thank you for this comment. It gives me hope, because I can’t use laptops with screens of diagonal lesser than 15’’. I would like to see Librem 15 or 16, or even 17 in near future.

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You might want to have a look at this thread:

I asked for L15 successors like 15’’, 16’’ as well and for an UltraHD version of the L14 and you might want to see the answers.

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@Pink_Unicorn
Thank you for reply. I have read this thread.
Moreover, I think there is another reason, why there would be Librem 15 or 16. Librem 14 has smaller screen resolution than Librem 15 had. Therefore should be some product, which would fill the niche made by removal of Librem 15.

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I currently use a Lenovo Yoga 920 with a 14 inch 3840 x 2160 screen. When I was shopping for it, I was unsure that I’d like going down to a 14 inch screen from my previous 15 inch laptop screen. After using a 14 inch laptop for 2.5 years, I think it is the perfect size for a laptop for me. I like the easier portability than 15 inch laptops and I have never felt like the screen size is inadequate. I think the only good reason for making the laptop bigger than 14 inches for most people would be adding a discrete GPU, which personally I don’t need and brings in the thorny issue of proprietary drivers and firmware.

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At the moment we have the Librem 14, which fits in a nice middle ground between the 13 footprint, but with a larger actual screen. Between that and the dramatically improved resources on it, it seems like it does fit a sweet spot.

However, I would be interested to know which of the features that are missing compared to the 15 (full-size keyboard with numpad, higher resolution screen, slightly larger screen, larger overall footprint) that would prevent people from ordering a Librem 14 instead.

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for me it’s only the missing German / international layout, really :slight_smile:

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@Kyle_Rankin
Thank you for your reply.
I think that the features that are the most important for me are:

  1. Larger screen. Large screen (at least 15 inches, but 16 or above is welcome) is better suitable for watching movies and for entertainment. I’m a myope, so larger screen than 14 inches would be a big advantage for me.
  2. Higher resolution. At least that, which was in Librem 15 version 4. In our times, when Apple is releasing Retina laptops, FullHD is somewhat too small.
  3. HDMI port.
  4. Ethernet port. Wi-Fi sometimes doesn’t work.
  5. Majority of ports on the left side of the laptop, because I’m right-handed and when I’m using the laptop, it stands on the table and my mouse is on the right side. Plugging external disks or other peripherals on the left side is convenient for me.
  6. VGA port. HDMI sometimes doesn’t work.
  7. Separate microphone jack and headphones jack.
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@Kyle_Rankin
Moreover, the bigger laptop is, the more ports you can place in it. For me, at least 3 USB-A and perhaps one USB-C port would fit into my needs. USB-C port is so small, that even two of them could be placed in the laptop.

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In particular I’d find it helpful to know which features that are missing from the Librem 14 but present in the Librem 15, would be significant enough for a person not to buy a Librem 14.

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OK.

  1. Higher resolution (present in Librem 15, not in Librem 14).
  2. Larger screen.
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For me, the screen resolution is the biggest missing feature. I’m not sure if there was an option for it with the Librem 15, but I’d like a touchscreen. I think 14 inches is a good size for the screen, and while 1080p is fine for most people, I’d prefer to pay more for higher resolution on a screen I look at a lot.

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Screen resolution is really all that’s held me back from ordering so far (1440p / 2K) is probably better at 14" than full 4k though

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I was wondering the same thing. I just received my Librem 15 a couple weeks ago. So far so good, I was going to order some more for my company, nada, just refurbished Lib 15s left…I was also thinking of ordering a server too, now, not so sure. I ordered a Librem 5 phone as well, still waiting for that. I am new to Purism and grateful that these products even exist,therefore I became a customer. I ordered the Lib 15 because I wanted a desktop replacement, that is light, powerful and secure, it fits that ticket for me. My other laptop is a custom Dell Precision Workstation 17" with 4 SSDs, that can run anything I throw at it in 3D CAD, but it is like carrying a slab of concrete around. My Lib 15 can hold its own as well with 32 gigs of Ram and the ProSSD screams. I love this freakin thing! Sad to see it gone.

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Since this has been pointed out, and for future, could it be possible to have a “previous products” list or similar that has at least the technical info available? It always bugs me when product info disappears when they are stopped selling - even though the product it self doesn’t vanish from users or second (or third) hand listings. Not a high priority thing, but still.

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That was the goal of https://wiki.puri.sm – to handle hardware documentation like that. Like basically all wikis (and all situations where there is more than one place you can put information) it needs some attention and to be brought up to date.

Note that https://docs.puri.sm has become a similar place for the Librem 5 and Librem Key, and with some placeholders for the 13 and 15. It might make sense to combine the previous wiki with that, but nothing has been decided along those lines.

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  • Big screen is a must for a desktop replacement. I don’t care how heavy it is and how short the battery life is (as long as it allows to move it around). I don’t want to buy a desktop with a monitor and all its wires. 17.0" with UHD would be best.
  • More ports, much more different ports.
  • Better cooling due to its size I guess, so should survive high load for a long time a be quieter (the latter wasn’t really true for Librem 15 AFAIK).

Wasn’t present in Librem 15, but I would really love the following:

  • More separate hardware keys (volume, brightness, custom keys).

  • Better camera and microphone would be really helpful.

  • What about three or four M.2 ports for SSDs? This would tremendously help quick automatic backups, multibooting, RAID.

  • Independent 3.5 mm port for a microphone. Update: Not necessary, see below.

  • Wasn’t present in Librem 15, but SD card slot, where the card is fully inside the device for more safety.

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Should both be true even more for the L14 (much better CPU).
I have a refurbished L15 btw. You wouldn’t see it, even if you know it.
(I’m also pretty sure the SSD will be a new one, especially if you choose a bigger one)