This is the announcement many of you have been waiting for. The Pinebook Pro production has been green-lit and pilot batches have been scheduled for production. With the remaining hardware issues identified and resolved (side-note, huge thanks to the the key devs – ayufan and MrFixit – as well as the community for all the help sorting things out!), we’re now feeling confident that we can to proceed full steam ahead. A countdown for Pinebook Pro is now live and ticking away, so no one PM or email me saying they didn’t know or hear about it – this is plenty of heads-up time. If you follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, are a member of the forum, check the web-page or read the Linux press regularly, then you’re unlikely to miss the moment the pre-order system become accessible.

As we’ve promised from the very start, community members who registered on the forum prior to July 1, 2019 are eligible for a 128GB eMMC upgrade as well as pre-order priority. The eMMC capacity upgrade is a limited-time offer, available only for the first batch of Pinebook Pro laptops.

I’d also like to include a quick word of caution; pilot batches are aimed at enthusiasts. We do diligent testing of the hardware and create numerous prototype iterations to make sure that we deliver the best possible product on launch day. However, we cannot emulate thousands of people using the device, it is simply not possible, and as a result minor issues (usually fixable with some tinkering) may be present in the pilot batch. If you’re not the sort of person who likes to actively engage in development or issue-solving, or simply is not willing to take the risk, then it may be a good idea to wait for the second or third batch. I am not saying that issues are expected, but it’s the nature of pilot batches that they are effectively a chance for us to get feedback on the hardware from a large sample of users. I thought I’d get this out there are there is a lot of interest in this device.

Lastly, I realize that making a purchase decision is often dependent on what reviewers and notable individuals from the Linux world say about the product. Since reviewers will be getting their Pinebook Pros at the same time as end-users or even later, I figured I’ll reach out to the relevant people in my neck of the woods and give them hands-on time with the prototype. Now, I obviously cannot make anyone cover the Pinebook Pro, nor do I want to make it sound like it is an expectation on my end, so I am leaving the names of the people and their shows out of this post if they choose not to talk about it. But keep an eye out (and an ear out – is that even an expression?), since some of them may decide to discuss their experience with the prototype online.