Category: Manufacturing Operations and Logistics

Last Call for Librem 5 Dev Kit: order yours before June 1st 2018

Purism has finalized the specifications for the Librem 5 development kit and will be placing all the component parts order and fabrication run the first week of June 2018. If you want to have early access to the hardware that will serve as the platform for the Librem 5 phone, you must place your dev kit order before June 1st, 2018. The price for the development kit is now $399, up from the early-bird pricing that was in effect during the campaign and until today. The dev kit is a small batch, “limited edition” product. After this batch, we are not planning for a second run (as the production of the phone itself will replace the dev kit in 2019).

Improved specifications

We decided to wait to get the latest i.MX 8M System On Module (SOM), rather than utilizing the older i.MX 6 SOM, therefore having the dev kit align nicely with the ending phone hardware specifications. This means the dev kits will begin delivery in the latter part of August for the earliest orders while fulfilling other dev kits in September. Choosing to wait for the i.MX 8M SOM also means our hardware design for the Librem 5 phone is still on target for January 2019 because we are pooling efforts rather than separating them as two distinct projects. Our dev kit choices and advancements benefit the Librem 5 phone investment and timeline.

The current dev kit specification is (subject to minor changes during purchasing):

  • i.MX 8M system on module (SOM) including at least 2GB LPDDR4 RAM and 16GB eMMC (NOTE: The Librem 5 phone will have greater RAM and storage)
  • M.2 low power WiFi+Bluetooth card
  • M.2 cellular baseband card for 3G and 4G networks
  • 5.7″ LCD touchscreen with a 18:9 (2:1) 720×1440 resolution
  • 1 camera module
  • 1 USB-C cable
  • Librem 5 dev kit PCB
    • Inertial 9-axis IMU sensor (accel, gyro, magnetometer)
    • GNSS (aka “GPS”)
    • Ethernet (for debugging and data transfer)
    • Mini-HDMI connector (for second screen)
    • Integrated mini speaker and microphone
    • 3.5mm audio jack with stereo output and microphone input
    • Vibration motor
    • Ambient light sensor
    • Proximity sensor
    • Slot for microSD
    • Slot for SIM card
    • Slot for smartcard
    • USB-C connector for USB data (host and client) and power supply
    • Radio and camera/mic hardware killswitches
    • Holder for optional 18650 Li-poly rechargeable battery with charging from mainboard (battery not required and not included!)

The dev kit will be the raw PCB without any outer case (in other words, don’t expect to use it as a phone to carry in your pocket!), but the physical setup will be stable enough so that it can be used by developers. As we finalize the designs and renders we will publish images.

Librem laptop orders now shipping within a week

As many team members have been travelling to negotiate hardware supplies or participate in community events lately, we are taking this opportunity to give you an update on Librem laptop operations this month, while regular posts about the Librem phone are expected to resume in a week or two.

Amidst the plethora of progress we blogged about recently on the mobile and security areas of our products, we also quietly achieved a very significant milestone in the life of our organisation, from the Inventory management and logistics standpoint: the ability to fulfill orders within 5 business days (on average), thanks to the inventory of Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops we have built up.

Indeed, as our early supporters throughout the years have demonstrated incredible patience to wait for their preorders to arrive on their doorstep, we are deeply grateful for their investment that now allows us to fulfill new orders in merely a few days instead of months. Just look at the progress we’ve made through our efforts since the beginning of Purism, where we have now caught up with the demand:

Note that the situation is even better than what the chart above indicates, as the remaining gap between orders and shipments of the Librem 15 actually represents orders from customers who have not decided what they want to do with their previous 4K order (we tried contacting those multiple times through email over the past few months and got no reply—if you are in this situation and have somehow not received emails from our ops department, please contact us with your existing order information).

The Librem 13 was introduced five months after the Librem 15, which explains the chart data starting in May 2015. We have kept the X axis the same as for the Librem 15 for comparison purposes.

The increased interest in our products is also the reason why we are now able to deliver worldwide with free shipping, and invest heavily in security by eating the cost of making TPM a standard feature on our laptop motherboards and advancing software that integrates with it, such as coreboot and Heads, where we are making significant contributions to those upstream projects, such as a menu interface for Heads or fixing various bugs in coreboot. Stay tuned for reverse engineering news in April!

Exhibiting at LibrePlanet 2018

We would like to thank all our users of Librem laptops and FSF endorsed PureOS, as well as all those that have backed the Librem 5 phone, and of course all those people who support us by feedback, kind words (we were psyched to see many of you showing support and interest at our booth at LibrePlanet last week-end!), and spreading the word. It is with this unified education approach that we can change the future of computing and digital rights for the better.

New Inventory with TPM by Default, Free International Shipping

In November, we announced the availability of our Trusted Platform Module as a $99 add-on for early adopters, something that would allow us to cover the additional parts & labor costs, as well as test the waters to see how much demand there might be for this feature. We thought there would be “some” interest in that as an option, but we were not sure how much, especially since it was clearly presented as an “early preview” and offered at extra cost.

Well, it turns out that a lot of people want this. We were pleasantly surprised to see that, with orders placed since that time, 98% of customers chose to have a TPM even at extra cost. This proved there is very strong market demand for the level of security this hardware add-on can provide.

2018’s first new batch is in stock—with TPM

Thanks to the investment of those early TPM adopters who voted with their wallets and gave us the necessary “business case” and resources to work it out, we are extremely proud to announce that we now include the TPM chip in all new Librem 13 and Librem 15 orders by default, as a standard feature of our newest hardware revision shipping out this month.

All the rest of the chip specifications remain the same.

It is still costing us money to add the TPM feature, but we decided to eat the cost, as the greater public benefit is more important than profits (and that is in line with our social purpose status and mission). Adding a TPM by default without increasing the base price is a major accomplishment toward having security by default, and paves the way for convenient security and privacy protection for everyone. In addition to the previous announcement, you can read Kyle’s post to understand the security implications.

Wait, there’s more!

  • We are now offering Free International Shipping on all orders. This is essentially a permanent rebate of approximately 100 USD to all new international customers! As we have grown we have been able to leverage more standardized shipping options, and are now in a position to pass on that savings to Purism customers. Please note, however, that shipping insurance, local taxes, customs fees and import duties are still your responsibility as customers.
  • Thanks to popular demand, we are now offering Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops with the backlit German keyboard layout. They are available for purchase in our store now, and will begin rolling out in mid-March.

Only a few non-TPM laptops remain in stock with the UK keyboard layout, so we are making a sale today to clear out that portion of the inventory. If you were looking for a Librem 13 with the UK physical key layout and no TPM, you can grab one of the few remaining ones and get an additional $99 off the previous no-TPM base price. In other words, instead of paying $1,478 “plus shipping” for the base configuration of the Librem 13 UK, you now pay $1,379 with free shipping!

We would like to thank all our users of Librem laptops and FSF endorsed PureOS, as well as all those that have backed the Librem 5 phone, and of course all those people who support us by feedback, kind words, and spreading the word. It is with this unified education approach that we can change the future of computing and digital rights for the better.

We have more great news in the pipeline. Next month, we hope to announce another major milestone in our inventory management & shipping operations. Stay tuned!

A shipping update for Qubes-related orders

In light of our shipping-from-inventory fulfillment model having recently begun and in order to answer questions we have been getting related to pre-loaded versions of Qubes OS, we would like to announce that we will be fulfilling Qubes-related pending orders made until now by offering the Qubes install as a complimentary USB key included at no additional charge in those shipments.

  • Orders made with Qubes OS as the chosen operating system are expected to be fulfilled using the USB key accessory within approximately two weeks. Although the technical method of delivery is different, the $100 licensing fee Purism pays to Qubes will still be honored, for all Qubes-related orders made until August 2nd, 2017.
  • Should you prefer to forego the USB key accessory (containing the latest publicly available Qubes OS installer), please contact ops@puri.sm to adjust your order, which will then begin shipment procedures immediately alongside PureOS-related orders.
  • We apologize for not being able to pre-load Qubes OS onto your machine’s main solid state storage drive, as we have been unable to obtain an automated OEM image (suitable for secure and efficient mass-preloading in our fulfillment center) through our existing agreement with the Qubes Project/Invisible Things Lab s.c.

The current “free Qubes installer USB key” offer will also remain valid for orders placed between today (July 4th) and August 2nd, 2017, at which point our agreement with Qubes shall no longer be in effect. After this date, we may, at our discretion and as a convenience option for customers, offer a USB key accessory containing either a customer-requested free operating system (subject to availability), or a blank USB key, for a minor fee covering the cost of materials and labor.

Some customers have asked us about the recent removal of the Librem 13 “v1” from the certified hardware page on Qubes website. While we were not notified in advance of this change to the contents of the Qubes website, we understand this de-listing to be due to the fact that the Librem 13 v1 is no longer being manufactured, as it has now been succeeded by the Librem 13 version 2 in 2017. The “version 2” has not been sent through the certification process.

Moreover, while our current and previous hardware has been found to work with Qubes OS, we currently no longer have plans to undergo the official certification process for the Librem 13 v2 nor Librem 15 v3. The costs involved, requiring a supplementary technical consulting contract with Qubes/ITL (as per their new Commercial Hardware Goals proposal document), are not financially justifiable for us.

We have no doubts that Qubes users will be able to independently report their successes with Qubes OS on the Librem laptops within the next few weeks.

We wish Qubes and Invisible Things Lab s.c. the best of luck in establishing commercial partnerships that match their new expectations.

“Ship from inventory” has begun

With the new  batch of Librem 13 and Librem 15 this summer, we created our first ever “inventory” to shift from a purely build to order (preorders) model to a build to stock model. In other words, for the first time in our existence, we now have more laptops in stock than the amount of orders, which means new orders can be fulfilled in 7-10 days instead of taking months. We made a formal announcement about this a few days ago, and would like to take the time today to thank you, early supporters, for having made it possible for us to reach this milestone! As we finish working through our backlog and finalizing our coreboot port to correct some last minute bugs (more on this later), some users have already started receiving their Librems:

P.s.: got your Librem? Feel free to post a photo while mentioning us on Twitter, or in this forum thread!

At the forefront

These new models ship with coreboot preloaded and the newest version of PureOS—featuring Wayland and GNOME 3 by default. We are, in fact, the first independent hardware manufacturer of brand new laptops to do this.

We are also uniquely positioned to ship with Skylake processors immune to the hyperthreading issue recently disclosed by OCaml developers, independently of whether or not you run PureOS on your Librem, as we have bundled the fix and rebuilt our coreboot images for the current inventory being shipped out from this week forward (those who have already received their Librems last week will be able to apply a BIOS update to fix the issue on their machines). Think about this for a second: there are no other manufacturers of brand new laptops in the world who can provide such a timely BIOS update, while shipping, within 48 hours of a CPU issue being publicly disclosed by a third-party mailing list.

Get them while they’re hot

We are expecting to sell through this first inventory fairly quickly. For those who did not want to preorder and wanted to buy only when inventory becomes available, this is your chance—don’t miss it! Afterwards, we will manufacture increasingly frequent batches until we reach cruising speed and have a tightly controlled right-on-time rolling inventory to ship from.

Inventory shipping in June 2017: case designs and final assembly

For the past few weeks, the new Librem 13 and 15 have been undergoing stage 1 production with our case modifications and silkscreening. We had some back and forth between us and the printer to finally have clearly identified killswitches:

…and our certification marks and model identification on the underside:

At first the screenprinters had trouble with the font we’re using (as you can see above, if you have a keen eye), but we got that corrected as you can see further below. We were not so lucky with the keyboard’s “Purism logo” key as the aspect ratio was squashed a little bit by the backlit keyboard supplier and we found out too late, but at this stage the #1 priority is getting these machines delivered to you as fast as possible, so we’re hoping you don’t mind the Purism rectangle logo being in “ultra-wide” cinema format just this once 😉

As the laptops are now at stage 2 production, we have some teaser photos of the completed case work. These were shot a bit hurriedly, the lighting and compression is not flattering, but this at least provides a rough idea. We’ll take the time to shoot proper studio photos when the first new wave of shipments is mailed out in June.

Here is what the underside of the Librem 13 looks like:

Here are the silkscreened killswitch labels:

Note: the IPS display panels we source for the Librems are matte (as they should be!) The reason why the screen in the picture above seems reflective is that a glossy protective film is applied to protect the laptops during shipping.

For the curious among you, here is a bare view of the case’s interior, with only the multitouch trackpad and backlit keyboard (underneath the black electrical isolating layer) installed:

With this, we are confident that we will be able to begin shipping out finalized units to customers in roughly two weeks. Afterwards, we will have stock on hand allowing new orders to be fulfilled within a week. If you were reluctant to preorder and were were waiting for the presence of rapidly-shipping stock to purchase a Librem, this will be a deal changer for you.

Spring 2017 product design update and operations report

Let’s recap recent progress with a summary of where we stand and where we’re going next on the “operations” front.

We have begun production of the two new revisions of Librem laptops. As we narrowed down on component choices and successfully raised additional funds, we have now made great steps towards our “zero outstanding orders” milestone and our goal of creating our first inventory to ship future orders from.

  • Last month, we ordered a batch of supplies to begin production of the new Librem 13 “v2” units. We have also tested and evaluated three prototype units, the latest of which we will use to extend our coreboot work.
  • Two weeks ago, we also ordered parts for the new Librem 15 “v3” units. So far we have evaluated one prototype unit for this new batch (which will also be used for our coreboot work), and will evaluate a second one soon.
  • We are currently working to leverage investment to make the Librem 11 batch order happen sooner and create an inventory directly; we will let you know of any progress on that front. In the meantime, we thank you for your patience. And please spread the word about the Librem 11 to those around you looking for a nice security-oriented and freedom-respecting convertible tablet with stylus support (especially interesting for visual artists who want to use the plethora of free creative tools such as MyPaint, Krita, Inkscape, GIMP, etc.)! The more people know about it, the sooner we should be able to put it into production.

Revised products specifications

For the upcoming Librem 13 v2 and the Librem 15 v3, we evaluated various prototypes, including different cases and keyboard models, alongside various possible CPU, GPU, RAM and storage combinations. With the newer motherboards, we aimed to keep the same flexibility in terms of storage: one M.2 slot and one standard SATA slot. As usual, the RAM and SSDs are all user-replaceable, not soldered.

The Librem 13 gets a whole slew of improvements for version 2:

  • A newer i5 processor, using the 14 nanometers lithography of the Skylake generation, bringing additional performance and power savings over previous generations
  • A backlit keyboard (the most often requested feature)
  • Newer Intel graphics as part of the Skylake chipset
  • DDR4 memory
  • One USB 3.0 “type C” connector
  • A much better trackpad (sourced from Elantech instead of BYD), which works better out of the box. It supports vertical and horizontal two-finger scrolling, allows changing workspaces with a simple four-finger swipe gesture, has smoother scrolling, and various multitouch gestures (dependent on applications support).

Those who have ordered the Librem 15 also get the free update to Skylake, newer graphics, DDR4, and improved trackpad. The Librem 15 already had a backlit keyboard and USB-C.

As you can see, when you pre-order a Purism device, you don’t need to worry about the specs becoming outdated by the time of production & delivery. For all our products, we strike a balance as per our manufacturing & sourcing approach, yet strive to stay close to the latest technology out there. We aim to please our supporters by bundling these updates at no additional cost whenever possible.

Upgrading from the Broadwell microarchitecture for this round, we chose to go with Skylake (rather than Kabylake) in order to service orders more quickly without bringing on delays in supplies or testing. To provide the best user experience, we prefer to test more thoroughly before moving on to a new chipset (for instance, we’ll be able to provide coreboot support more quickly with Skylake as part of our current roadmap). We expect to upgrade the chipsets/microachitecture again for the next production run (planned for the second half of 2017 once we complete this batch), which will involve a revised motherboard design, as we will also be adding new hardware features in prevision of full support for Heads.

The power of the Dark Side comes as a duo

We chose to keep the same overall chassis, although the location of Librem 15’s killswitches will be different this time (all on the hinge cover, like the Librem 13).

A notable aesthetic improvement for the Librem 15 v3 is that it will be anodized black just like the Librem 13. The temptation of the Dark Side was strong! Here you can see an anodized aluminium extrusion sample of the Librem 15 v3, next to an existing Librem 13 v1:

As we are beginning to have quite a bit of hardware revisions and models to keep track of, the laptops will now also feature some subtle branding underneath the backplate for model identification and to show the appropriate certification marks (we are FCC and CE certified). The publicly visible parts such as the screen bezel, palmrests, or the back of the screen lid, all remain unbranded.

Better power connectors

We are now sourcing power supplies with L-shaped coaxial connectors, so they keep a low profile when plugged into the side of your Librem:

This is particularly useful if you like to sit cross-legged with your laptop on a sofa, for example! (or for those who like to meditate with a computer on their lap)

Wrapping up

We are well on our way to provide a great new set of laptops this summer. We should be receiving the final components around the end of May, at which point we will do the final assembly and shipping throughout June. We will then be able to celebrate having cleared all the existing Librem 13 and 15 orders (including the recent big spike in orders). After that point, we will be able to ship within days and weeks (not months), which will be a huge relief for everybody looking to buy a Librem “in a pinch”. We hope you’re as excited as we are about that!

As always, thank you for your support, and feel free to contact us with your thoughts and encouragements, or to spread the good news around you!

Edit: post updated to reflect the processor models available as of June 2017. For the time being, the Librem 13 will still feature an i5 processor instead of the i7, albeit with the newer Skylake chipset.

Getting ready for LibrePlanet and the new Librem 15 v3

This year, we’re attending and sponsoring LibrePlanet, which is being held this week-end in Boston. Todd and I arrived one day early, as we wanted to seize the opportunity to spend a full day coworking to align our plans (regarding communications, product design and supply chain management), confirm product specifications, and test some new prototypes we have on hand. Todd recently (yesterday!) received sample parts and prototype units from suppliers, so we spent some time checking the aesthetic and functional aspect of the next revision of the Librem 13 (v2) and Librem 15 (v3), including the chips, killswitches, and removable components.

I also brought with me some older units I had gathered from others, including the Librem 11 prototype (which we bricked during testing) and the previous revision of the Librem 15.

Oh, “But what is that mysterious black plate in the center of the table”, you ask? Well, that’s one of the sample parts our suppliers sent us: the upper aluminium plate of the upcoming Librem 15 v3, which will be anodized black like our lovely Librem 13.

Here you can see Todd’s Librem 13 on the left (which looks brand new even after 2 years of intensive use) and the Librem 15 v3’s anodized aluminium extrusion sample on the right (resting on top of the old Librem 15 production model for comparison).

We chose a matte finish to avoid fingerprints from showing up (disclaimer: if you’re worried about someone lifting your invisible fingerprints from your laptop, you probably want to type with gloves like this guy–except you’ll be way cooler, because you’ll be using a Librem instead of some old plastic junk 😉

We’re still finalizing details when it comes to the final specs, but from the looks of it, those with outstanding orders may benefit from a free upgrade to a newer generation of CPU and graphic chipsets, in addition to the black aluminium chassis.

Today we have placed a batch order through our supply chain for the Librem 15 v3, so we hope to provide you with an update on specifications and estimates soon. In the meantime, if any of you are attending LibrePlanet, we look forward to meeting you this week-end!

New Librem 13 version to be manufactured & shipped through Spring 2017

True to the promise we have made last month, we are thrilled to announce that today, February 15th, 2017, we are placing orders throughout our supply chain for all components needed for the Librem 13 v2 to begin shipping-from-inventory in April-May onwards! This comes after months of efforts to:

  • upgrade parts of our supply chain, case, backlit keyboard, kill switches, and battery;
  • close investment to place a large-enough order that we can have inventory to ship directly from.

This is a critical step. Future Librem 13 orders, from May onwards, will only take days to fulfill. Incrementally throughout 2017, this will become the way we fulfill orders for all our existing products. Read more

Growing to Ship from Inventory in 2017

Thank you all for supporting Purism, with ordering hardware, donations, volunteering, downloading PureOS, using our products, and of course the kind words. We are excited to finally approach the transition from “build-to-order” (where users have tended to wait months for Librem products) to shipping from inventory, where new users will be waiting merely days for Librem products. This is the most important step we’re taking yet.

To do this, we are leveraging past sales revenue to get investment and a larger line-of-credit, so we can place an even larger order for all the supplies, hardware, and component parts needed to build and house inventory.

The Librem 13 v2 prototype
The Librem 13 v2 prototype

This larger order is expected to be placed in January, and we intend it to include: the Librem 13 v2, the Librem 15 v2, and the Librem 11 v1. There is typically an 8 week lead time for fabrication, which means placing our bulk inventory orders in January will allow us to fulfill the remaining preorders and backorders in March, and ship-from-inventory beginning in April of 2017.

This is a very exciting transition for Purism to grow to meet the demand of users worldwide, and we could not have done this without your support, so thank you again.