System76 Preparing Coreboot Laptop With Core i9 10900K, Up To 128GB RAM
System76 has been on a spree of interesting hardware launches this year and their next one is a new Bonobo WS ultra high-end laptop.
System76 has begun teasing a new Bonobo WS laptop featuring an Intel Core i9 10900K desktop processor, up to 128GB of DDR4-3200 memory, up to a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU, four M.2 slots for plenty of storage options, a 97 Wh battery, and amplified speakers complete with a subwoofer.
Making the device more interesting than similarly spec'ed laptops is the new Bonobo WS will be running Coreboot. Granted, like recent generations of Intel systems running Coreboot, there still are binary blobs involved around the Intel FSP and other components that haven't yet been liberated. So it's not a fully libre BIOS/firmware, but a step in the right direction at least compared to a completely closed up alternative.
For making the Coreboot support a reality, NVIDIA did provide documentation around Optimus and other areas around their firmware interface so the support could be added, but the docs NVIDIA provided to the System76 engineers are under NDA.
There is no word yet on pricing, weight, or battery life for this ultra high-end spec'ed Linux laptop, but we should learn more soon.
System76 has begun teasing a new Bonobo WS laptop featuring an Intel Core i9 10900K desktop processor, up to 128GB of DDR4-3200 memory, up to a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU, four M.2 slots for plenty of storage options, a 97 Wh battery, and amplified speakers complete with a subwoofer.
Intel i9-10900K
— Jeremy Soller (@jeremy_soller) August 14, 2020
128 GB 3200 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super
4 M.2 slots
97 Wh battery
Amplified speakers and subwoofer
In a laptop running coreboot?
Yep
It makes the Oryx Pro look like a Lemur Pro, and I can't wait to offer it.
It's like using an M1 Abrams as your daily driver
Making the device more interesting than similarly spec'ed laptops is the new Bonobo WS will be running Coreboot. Granted, like recent generations of Intel systems running Coreboot, there still are binary blobs involved around the Intel FSP and other components that haven't yet been liberated. So it's not a fully libre BIOS/firmware, but a step in the right direction at least compared to a completely closed up alternative.
NVIDIA provided documentation on required firmware interfaces for Optimus and other features
— Jeremy Soller (@jeremy_soller) August 12, 2020
For making the Coreboot support a reality, NVIDIA did provide documentation around Optimus and other areas around their firmware interface so the support could be added, but the docs NVIDIA provided to the System76 engineers are under NDA.
There is no word yet on pricing, weight, or battery life for this ultra high-end spec'ed Linux laptop, but we should learn more soon.