If you weren’t already excited to get a PinePhone from Pine64 then I think I have the news that will make sure you click the add to cart button right now! Pine64 has announced that Pre-Orders for the postmarketOS Community Edition (CE) is now available. They didn’t stop there because this round of Pre-Orders comes with another new edition of the PinePhone.
In addition to the regular $149 PinePhone model, Pine64 is also offering a new PinePhone Convergence Package which comes with a more powerful PinePhone. The PinePhone Convergence Package comes in at a price of $199 and features a PinePhone with 3GB of RAM, 32GB eMMC storage (twice as much as regular model) and a USB Dock. This more powerful PinePhone is currently exclusive to the Convergence Package option.
USB Dock comes with a USB Type-C connector to connect to your phone and then from there you get HDMI out, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and even an Ethernet port.
“The dock that is included with the Convergence Package is capable of delivering power to the phone via USB-C power-in (3A 5V), outputting digital video via HDMI, 10/100 Ethernet connectivity and two USB 2.0 ports (for e.g. external storage / mouse and keyboard).”
Lukasz Erecinski | Pine64. org – July Update: biggest update in months!
Pine64 also says that they do not know whether or not the Convergence Package will become a permanent option so if you want to make sure you get one then jump over to the Pine64 Store!
As soon as I saw this announcement I was quick to try and get one for myself but unfortunately, it appears that the website is currently experiencing the “hug of death” because I am having issues loading their site. Hopefully this is addressed soon since I am very interested in getting one of these newer more powerful PinePhones!
Quick Note: the previous versions of the PinePhone will require a “minor alteration” to the phone’s mainboard in order to support USB device connections.
