MNT Research has finished design of easy-to-repair modular laptop

MNT Research has completed the design of its MNT Reform laptop. This is a modular system that users should be able to easily repair, upgrade and customize. The makers want to pay for the production through crowdfunding.

MNT Research shows version 2 of its MNT Reform with motherboard revision 2 on its website. The laptop is built around a Nitrogen8M system-on module from Boundary Devices, with an NXP i.MX8M soc and 4GB lpddr4. The makers have chosen this system-on module because the complete schematic of that module is publicly available.

The laptop has a 1080p screen with IPS panel and a diagonal of 12.5 inches. The screen receives an image via the mipi dsi output of the soc, where a Texas Instruments SN65DSI86 chip converts the signal to embedded display port. The drivers are open source. Because the NXP chip only supports two USB 3.0 controllers and the keyboard and trackball are connected internally via USB, a USB hub is necessary to provide the three USB ports. Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and an SD card slot are also available.

Striking is the presence of a small, secondary OLED screen with a resolution of 128×32 pixels. This can show information from the system controller, outside the SOC, such as the battery status. In the future, this can serve as a notification screen and/or password manager, suggests MNT Research. The laptop is powered by eight 18650 LiFePO4 battery cells.

The German MNT Research focuses on hackers and makers who want to be able to easily repair, adapt and upgrade parts, including with 3D-printed parts. According to the team, the laptop is also focused on privacy. For example, the camera and a microphone are missing and the processor has no management engine.

It is not known what the system will cost. In February, MNT Research will start a crowdfunding campaign for the project.