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We learned a lot from working on the original PinePhone. Over the past two years we painstakingly collected and analyzed your feedback and explored all avenues for hardware improvements. The PinePhone Pro is the end result of this journey. It is powered by a Rockchip hexa-core SoC operating at 1.5GHz, and ships paired with 4GB of dual-channel LPDDR4 RAM as well as 128GB of internal eMMC flash storage. It features a high-fidelity 13MP main camera sensor and a 5MP front-facing camera.
We worked closely with Rockchip’s engineering team to fine-tune the SoC’s performance so that it meets the necessary thermal and battery-consumption envelopes. The result of this cooperation is the RK3399S – a RK3399 variant made specifically for the PinePhone Pro. Rockchip’s team was also instrumental in enabling the PinePhone Pro’s suspend state, which allows the smartphone to receive calls and SMS messages while preserving battery.
Hardware privacy dip switches for the cameras, the microphone, WiFi & BT, headphone jack (enabling UART) and the LTE modem (including GPS) are accessible under the back cover, just as on the original PinePhone.
We wanted the PinePhone Pro to reflect its status as a pro-grade device while maintaining perfect compatibility with all existing PinePhone peripherals. The PinePhone Pro uses the same pogo-pin systems and back cover attachment as the original PinePhone, making it compatible with all existing add-ons. The keyboard, PineDio LoRa, fingerprint reader and wireless charging cases will all work with the PinePhone Pro.
The PinePhone Pro features a vibrant in-cell IPS display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 4™ with an oleophobic coating, offering superior scratch resistance and image clarity. The camera is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4™ and protected by an elevated bezel, similar to the one found on the original PinePhone.
The chassis is slightly thicker (~2mm) than the original PinePhone’s. Proportions of the original design were altered to accommodate the new display and to allow for improved heat dissipation. The coating on the back of the PinePhone Pro has been given a premium feel and engineered to minimize oily fingerprints. We think you’ll be pleased with the end-result.
Contemporary mobile Linux operating systems have a way to go before they can be considered true alternatives to Android or iOS. While mobile Linux isn’t in a state that could satisfy most mainstream electronics consumers, we recognize that a sizable portion of our community is ready to make the jump to a Linux-only smartphone today. The PinePhone Pro has the raw horsepower to be your daily driver, granted you’re ready to accept the current software limitations.
In a nutshell: if you are an existing PinePhone owner and your only wish is for the device to be more powerful and refined, then the PinePhone Pro is for you.
We’re not in the business of selling empty promises – a much faster mainline Linux smartphone won’t make the existing operating systems more refined, nor will it magically spawn software replacements for your iOS or Android applications. There is a long road ahead of us, all of us, and it will require time and effort for the software to reach a degree of maturity that would satisfy mainstream users.
If you depend on proprietary mainstream mobile messenger applications, banking applications, use loyalty or travel apps, consume DRM media, or play mobile video games on your fruit or Android smartphone, then the PinePhone Pro is likely not for you.
Tasks such as opening applications, browsing the internet, interacting with the user interface or watching videos are on par with recent mid-range Android smartphones. Many of you will also be happy to hear that native Linux games as well as popular retro game emulators work great on the PinePhone Pro – be it SuperTuxKart, PSP, or Dreamcast emulation, you’ll be in for a treat.
When docked and connected to an external monitor and keyboard and mouse, the PinePhone Pro performs well when surfing the web, using the terminal or an office suite, watching 1080p videos, and even in light photo editing. The perfect pocketable Linux computer on the go.
We have started taking PinePhone Pro pre-orders from developers on October 15, 2021, and expect to have them delivered by December this year.
We have also secured the necessary components and factory floor-time to produce a large production run of the PinePhone Pro in November; we’re calling it the Explorer Edition. If everything goes according to plan, early adopters will have their Explorer Edition units delivered in early 2022.
Subscribe to our blog, Telegram and Discord news feeds or follow us on Twitter and Mastodon to be notified when Explorer Edition becomes available.
Openness means privacy and security as well as software choice. Just as the original PinePhone, the PinePhone Pro runs mainline Linux (with patches, which are being upstreamed) with open source drivers.
The default operating system for the PinePhone Pro is Manjaro Linux with KDE Plasma Mobile, but we expect to see it supported by most of the operating systems already available for the original PinePhone. It is also likely that PinePhone Pro will give rise to new software options. We cannot wait to see what the community comes up with.
More information about the PinePhone Pro will be available in the days and weeks to come. We encourage you to read the October Community Update featuring an explanation of the rationale behind bringing the PinePhone Pro to the market and an account of our team’s decision-making process.
Technical details, including schematics, information pertaining to individual components as well as available operating systems, certification and much more is available on our Wiki.
The PinePhone Pro boasts a large and vibrant community of developers, members of other mobile Linux projects and enthusiasts like yourself. We host an interconnected network of chats and forums which facilitate communication and cooperation. Everyone is welcome – join in!
System on Chip (SoC)
GPU
RAM
Storage
LCD panel
Cameras
Modem & GPS
WiFi & Bluetooth
I/O
Sensors
Privacy hardware switches
External buttons
Audio Out
Other
Battery
Charging
Dimensions
Weight
Price
Probably not. While the PinePhone Pro’s mainboard will fit the PinePhone, the chassis, IPS display panel, cameras, the daughterboard, and thermal dissipation systems are all different. For instance, the PinePhone Pro’s cameras will not fit into the PinePhone chassis and are electrically incompatible with the PinePhone’s mainboard. Software enablement would also be required to drive the original PinePhone’s components (such as the LCD) using the PinePhone Pro’s mainboard. Thermal dissipation is another important consideration, as the higher heat output may not be trivial to overcome in the original PinePhone’s chassis.
Absolutely! There are many people who either need a less expensive option or simply aren’t ready to make the commitment to switch to a Linux smartphone just yet. The PinePhone will keep on catering to this crowd for the foreseeable future.
Moreover, we believe that the PinePhone will retain its position as the most popular mobile Linux development platform on the market due to its price point and broad adoption. We know that the development community depends on the PinePhone’s continued availability, so we will produce it for as long as there is demand and available components.
Yes, we designed the midframe and pogo pin layout of the PinePhone Pro to be compatible with the original PinePhone. You can expect all PinePhone accessories, bar the original PinePhone’s soft and hard protective covers, to work with the PinePhone Pro. Future accessories will strive to be compatible with both smartphones.
Although both devices use a similar SoC, due to the thermal constraints imposed by the chassis, the PinePhone Pro is around 20% slower than a Pinebook Pro. The RK3399S chips used in the PinePhone Pro are binned and voltage locked for optimal performance with sustainable power and thermal limits. That said, the perceived performance of the two devices ought to be comparable due to the PinePhone Pro’s lower screen resolution and better optimization.
The PinePhone Pro is as open as the original PinePhone. Read more here.
It is highly likely that production will be affected by global component shortages at some stage, but it is very difficult for us to determine the degree, given how hard it is to foresee how the situation will unfold in the coming months. Our website features an inventory availability, stock and shipping status page updated on a regular basis.
Just as the original PinePhone, the PinePhone Pro is built to be user repairable and we will offer spare parts in the Pine Store. The store’s selection will include all parts that frequently break if the device is dropped (the screen, back case and mid section) as well as all electronic components, including the mainboard.
The PinePhone Pro is held together by standard Phillips screws – all you need to repair it is a suitable screwdriver and some spare time.
