News: PinePhone Feature Update

We came across some interesting news just now from the founder of Pine64, TL Lim, regarding the production of the upcoming PinePhone Linux-based open smartphone. The notes below have been edited for clarity based on the information we received:

• The production PinePhone design will start next week after the current week-long holiday in China.
• The first task is for the PCB layout engineer to use the PinePhone Devkit 2.0 as a design along with the current schematic to make sure the PCB will fit into the mock-up case.
• This process is expected to take approximately two weeks. Once confirmed, the case design will start based on the PCB layout and the 6" LCD panel.
• The case will have a USB-C jack and a headphone jack on the bottom of the case.
• The battery will be replaceable and based on the Samsung J-7 battery pack. Pine64 will be requesting the vendor to create a 3400mAH version of the battery, which is 400mAH more than the current Samsung version of the same dimensions.
• Repair-friendly case: The user should be able to change parts with ease, ideally using only a single small Phillips screwdriver with an expected dismantling time of 5 minutes.
• The back case should be removable by hand without tools.
• Hardware enable/disable switches should be easily accessible inside the case.

This is exciting news coming from Pine64 for fans of Linux, privacy-centric smartphones, and user-repairable devices.