[kwlug-disc] laptops with Linux preinstalled

[Doug Moen]

I'm researching a replacement laptop for my aging Macbook Air.

We used to live in an era when Macbook Pros were very popular with the open source crowd, and you'd see a lot of these laptops at conferences. I think that is changing. I have personally soured on Apple. I was originally planning to replace my Macbook Air with a Macbook Pro, but now I want a Linux laptop.

Nowadays, there are many options for buying laptops with Linux preinstalled and officially supported by the laptop manufacturer. Linux on the laptop is now serious business, it is no longer just for hobbyist and homebrew types. Linux laptops can be lighter, have better specs, and at the same time be more upgradeable than Macbook Pros. These are nice developments. Some of these options are quite new. So I will share my research.

The options I looked at are premium, expensive laptops, generally in the range of $1500-$3000. Think of these as Macbook Pro replacements.

Lenovo has been Linux friendly for many years, but Tuesday they announced that their entire Thinkpad P series can now be purchased with Ubuntu LTS or Fedora Workstation preinstalled.
https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-brings-linux-certification-to-thinkpad-and-thinkstation-workstation-portfolio-easing-deployment-for-developers-data-scientists/

 ThinkPad P1 gen2: 15.4" screen, 3.74lb, nvidia GPU, premium specs, lots of ports, webcam shutter, opt. touch screen

Dell has sold laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled for many years. Notable ones are:

 Dell XPS 13 model 9300: 13.4" 16:10 screen, 2.65lb, few ports, soldered RAM, opt. touch screen
 Dell Precision 5550: 15.6" screen, 4.06lb, nvidia gpu

System76 is an American manufacturer of Linux-only laptops. Jason has previously endorsed their Pop OS distro (an Ubuntu variant), and I'm planning to run Pop OS after seeing Jason's presentation. Notable features are Core Boot (GPL 3 firmware that boots very quickly), and disabling Intel ME in hardware, before the firmware runs. Their laptops are cheaper than the Dell/Lenovo machines mentioned above, at the expense of lower spec hardware in some areas (eg. poor speakers, poor colour rendition, no wifi 6, no thunderbolt, no touch screen). Lots of ports, very repairable/upgradeable.

 Lemur Pro: 14.1" screen, 2.2lb
 Darter Pro: 15" screen, 3.6lb
 Gazelle: 15.6" screen, 4.85lb, nvidia GPU, numeric keypad

Slimbook is a Spanish manufacturer of Linux-only laptops. They are openly targetting the MacBook Pro. Their laptops seem better speced than equivalent System76 laptops (eg, good speakers, good colour rendition). No wifi 6, no thunderbolt, no touch screen option. Their most notable feature is authentication using an IR webcam and face recognition, like Windows, except for Linux. You can use face recognition to supply a sudo password, for example.

 Slimbook Pro X: 14" screen, 2.38lb, nvidia GPU
 Slimbook Pro X 15: 15.6" screen, 3.3lb, nvidia GPU

The latest Macbook Pros are heavier than the competition, have soldered in RAM, no WIFI 6, no touch screen, otherwise nice specs.
 Macbook Pro 13.3" screen, 3.1lb
 Macbook Pro 16" screen, 4.3lb, AMD gpu
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