Ok I understand it. If there's anytime a new PineBook Pro, hope it has USB4 with royalty-free Thunderbolt 3. Also, some decent arm cpu so it can run flawlessly newer Apple software.
Frankly speaking, if properly configured I think this machine is perfectly fine. Except for one major effing flaw that's really annoying - protracted heavy use can easily drain the battery into complete zero even with the power supply attached, and it doesn't even matter how powerful the PSU is, the machine simply won't take more power than certain limit. And unfortunately that limit is below the maximum it can consume. So if there is one thing I'd like to see in a new iteration of PBP it's making sure that given a sufficiently powerful power supply the battery will not drain even if I have screen set to 100% brightness, simultaneously running speedtest non-stop, building kernel, and repeatedly backing up the internal eMMC to an external USB drive. Or if it does drain then it takes not just few hours, but at least a good full day.
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the power drain issue while plugged in is significant and annoying.
compared to the rk3399 -- if the rk3588 has 30% more processing power, 40% less power draw, improved VPU, and NPU, paired with 8/16GB of RAM and 512GB/1TB SSD, then this could easily address the Pro+ market segment. there will be many willing to spend more on a much more capable arm64 laptop. with mac moving to arm this will increase exponentially.
it would also be nice to see pine and rockchip officially support mainline linux kernel development, like VPU media decoding projects v4l2codecs, v4l2request and vaapi. from a normal usage point of view this is easily the most glaring web browsing feature missing. basic youtube and jitsi usage will melt all the things. the hardware supports these hardware decoding capabilities, but are unused.
other improvements needed are improved speakers, webcam+mic, and an additional usbc port.
the first outfit to address the Pro+ market segment with a FHD webcam, decent mic and speakers, and VPU decoding and encoding working OOTB will create that killer product.
I would like to add that there is a clear benefit if the tech spec of the Pinebook Pro stays stable for quite some time.
All development can focus on a fixed target and the progress the developer make can improve the PBP bit by bit.
Also the knowledge about little details increases in a way that would never happen if the PBP would be replaced by a different tech soon. A larger chunk of users would then move to the new platform and never have the incentive to dig deep into the existing tech.
So it might be actually an advantage if the tech does not change all the time. Just to remember what people did with an Amiga or C64 at the end of their lifetime in the demo scene. That was breathtaking.
One area where it might make sense to think about changes are small improvements to fix annoying niggles like:
- the mentioned drain of the battery in full power (maybe something could be done ?)
- very high pitched sound sometimes (Most distros have a way to turn that off, but sometimes it comes back)
- the small black plastic thingies that fall out when you open the back and that have to placed in exactly the right way to avoid potential damage
- my display frame broke in one spot and I have read reports of similar cases ( I could fix it with super glue, but maybe there is something that can be looked into to avoid this ?)
Maybe other user have different additions to the list and then they can be analysed and maybe some can be solved?
Bottom line, I am actually not keen to have a new tech release of the PBP but a revised version with a few niggles fixed and the same tech might be something ?
we probably have another year+ before the PBP+ could be released if based on rk3588. the community can solve problems via software and minor hardware modifications, but power, charging, whine, and sound are likely solved by hardware revision. i would rather see hardware issues addressed with new mainboard versions if required now, and integrate into new product in the future.
I'm thinking about a replacement small board. One that includes the 3.3v serial to USB adapter builtin, with MicroUSB port. It would be easy enough to add a MicroUSB port to the chassis' right side. Some plastic modifications would be needed and some soldering to the main board for the serial TX/RX/GND cable.
I'd even be tricky and drive the serial to USB chip from the USB port. Some chips even include the 5 USB to 3.3v drop down regulators. So that if you don't need it, this modification does not drain any power.
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Arwen Evenstar
Princess of Rivendale
