System76, the Colorado-based Linux laptop, desktop, and server specialist, has announced a new highly portable laptop with an Intel Alder Lake processor inside. The new Lemur Pro is a "lighter than Air" 14-inch form factor laptop with excellent battery life and attractions such as open firmware (powered by Coreboot) and a 180-degree hinge. In addition, buyers can choose to go with Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS pre-installed.
The new Lemur Pro has many attractive modern features you might see advertised in many rival mainstream thin and light designs. However, the special sauce here is the "System76 Open Firmware with Coreboot."
Coreboot, known initially as LinuxBIOS, is significant as it is an open-source BIOS implementation embraced by Linux users. It is lightweight, flexible, and feature-rich. Sadly, not many modern laptops or desktop PCs support Coreboot, but it seems to have gained momentum in recent times. We reported on Coreboot being made available for MSI Z690-A WiFi motherboards in April. More recently, in a demonstration of Coreboot's flexibility for tinkerers, we reported on a port of Doom being released as a Coreboot payload.
Many users will want to plug this portable 14-incher into a large screen when they get the opportunity, and System76 has designed the Lemur Pro with monitor-based docking in mind. It envisions users connecting to a big screen using the USB-C connection to benefit from the more expansive workspace and laptop charging.
Like Windows, Linux had to have some serious tinkering under the hood to prepare for the mix of Performance and Efficiency cores in Alder Lake chips. However, rest assured, efficient hybrid scheduling is taken care of with the two OS options that can be pre-installed on the Lemur Pro.
| Spec | System76 Lemur Pro |
|---|---|
|
Processor |
12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U: Up to 4.4GHz - 12MB Cache - 10 Cores - 12 Threads, or 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1255U: Up to 4.7GHz - 12MB Cache - 10 Cores - 12 Thread. Both CPUs feature Intel Iris Xe graphics |
|
Screen |
14.1-inch 1920×1080 FHD, Matte Finish |
|
Memory |
Up to 40 GB DDR4 @ 3200 MHz |
|
Storage |
2 x M.2 SSD (1x PCIe gen4 + 1x PCIe gen3 or SATA). Up to 4TB total |
|
Connectivity |
1× USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1× USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C / Thunderbolt 4, MicroSD Card Reader, 1x audio combi port, HDMI, USB 3.2 Type-C w/ DisplayPort 1.4, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 |
|
Other |
Multitouch Clickpad, Backlit US QWERTY Keyboard, Stereo speakers, 1080p webcam, 73WHr battery |
|
OS / firmware |
Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, System76 Open Firmware (coreboot, EDK2, System76 Firmware Apps), System76 Open Source Embedded Controller Firmware |
|
Physical |
12.68" x 8.54" x 0.65" (32.2 x 21.7 x 1.65cm), 2.54 lbs (1.15kg) |
System76 allows customers to configure and buy Lemur Pro laptops right now. There are many RAM and storage configurations to pick through, and you can add external keyboards and monitors to the bundle. The entry price with an Intel Core i5-1235U, 8GB RAM, 240GB of storage, and no extras is $1,149. However, the Core i7-1255U model is a bit of a stretch, adding $200 to the base price for the faster CPU clocks.
