HP is launching a Linux laptop pre-loaded with Pop!_OS, the Ubuntu-based distro created by System76.
The collaboration, which was quietly revealed by System76 CEO Carl Richell on Twitter, is a pretty major one. It is the first time System76 has partnered with another computer company to ship their OS. It’s also the first time (to my knowledge) that a HP Linux laptop will ship with something other than vanilla Ubuntu.
Specs for the 14-inch HP Dev One seem pretty sweet, too.
HP Dev One: Specs & Price
A landing page for the device — there’s a ‘sign up to learn more’ e-mail muncher on it, if you’re super interested — tells us the HP Dev One is built around an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 Pro CPU, includes AMD Radeon Graphics, ships with 16GB RAM (which will apparently be configurable up to 64GB), and a 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD for fast read/write speeds.
No word on battery life, ports, connectivity, etc just yet. The chassis of the device appears to be retooled from the (rather well-received) HP Elitebook line.
“Get ready for a laptop that’s customized for the way you code. Featuring preinstalled Pop!_OS Linux and a tuned Linux keyboard with a Super key, HP Dev One was designed with developers in mind,” the page blurb reads.
The one product shot we have of the laptop at present is intriguing. The build of the laptop looks premium. The keyboard has an inset ‘nub’ and an un-branded super key. Two (presumably speaker) grilles flank the keyboard.
Pricing for the HP Dev One starts at $1,099 (sans shipping).
As for where you’ll be able to to buy, as yet unknown; availability is yet to be revealed. I’m hoping Europe is included as System76 don’t ship to Europe directly. Pop!_OS is preloaded as the only OS on the HP Dev One. Support for the laptop and the OS will be provided by HP reps. Firmware updates will come via the LVFS (which is pretty cool).
More details on the HP Dev One will be revealed in June.
h/t Marco