Purism begins delivery of Librem Mini PC with PureOS
Purism is shipping the first copies of the Librem Mini to pre-order customers. This mini PC includes a Whiskey Lake generation Intel processor and runs PureOS with PureBoot.
Purism reports that it has tested the hardware and ported coreboot for the Librem Mini in recent weeks, so that delivery can start. Customers who have placed a preorder will be notified by the company with their delivery status. One point of concern, according to Purism, is the speed at which the fan rotates. The processor is passively cooled when shipped, but a firmware update is coming to enable active cooling to prevent the processor from throttling when it has some heavy work to do.
The Librem Mini is a compact PC in the style of the Intel NUC and other mini PCs, measuring 12.8×12.8×3.8cm and weighing one kilogram. The processor is an Intel Core i7-8565U of the Whiskey Lake generation and there is support for up to 64GB of RAM, SATA storage and an m2 SSD. The PC has HDMI 2.0, displayport 1.2, four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 variants and a type-c connection for USB 3.1. There is also a gigabit Ethernet interface, and support for WiFi-n and Bluetooth 4.0.
Purism’s systems must distinguish themselves with their software. The PC runs PureOS, a Debian-based Linux distribution that includes the PureBrowser, which is Firefox-based and includes privacy-protecting features. As for the firmware, Purism ships the Librem Mini with several PureBoot bundles. PureBoot includes the bios replacement Coreboot and disables the Intel Management Engine, which reduces security risks. PureBoot can be combined with Librem Key, which can be used to check whether unauthorized persons have tampered with the firmware.
The starting price of the Librem Mini with 8GB of RAM and a 250GB SSD is $700. That is converted and with VAT about 750 euros.