Purism’s $599 and up “Librem Mini” mini-PC runs its Linux-based, privacy focused PureOS on an 8th Gen Whiskey Lake CPU with 8GB to 64GB DDR4, a 256GB M.2 SSD, dual 4K displays, and 7x USB ports.

Purism has launched a self-hosted crowd-funding campaign for a mini-PC that runs its Debian-based privacy and security reinforced PureOS distribution. The 8th Gen Whiskey Lake powered Librem Mini follows other Purism products that run PureOS including its 7th Gen Skylake based Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops and NXP i.MX8M driven Librem 5 smartphone. Librem also sells its software stack for Android and iOS phones in a Librem One mobile app and subscription service.

Librem Mini
(click images to enlarge)

Created by popular demand from the Librem community, the NUC-like, 128 x 128 x 38mm Librem Mini is designed as a desktop replacement, media center, home server, or digital signage system. It joins other Whiskey Lake based mini-PCs such as ASRock’s more industrial-targeted iBox-8265U.

Librem 13

The open source, Debian-based PureOS provides end-to-end encrypted and decentralized storage and communications plus support for VPN services. The company promises to respect user privacy and ownership of data.

The pre-loaded software also includes Coreboot and Heads based Pureboot “tamper-evident firmware,” and it supports Librem’s optional, Pureboot- and OpenPGP-enabled Librem Key USB security key dongle. Pureboot disables and neutralizes the Intel Management Engine (IME) to reduce the system’s attack surface and avoid the IME’s rumored backdoor.

The Librem Mini ships with a 1.8GHz (4.6GHz Turbo) Intel Core i7-8565U, a quad-core, 8-thread processor with a relatively low 15W TDP and Intel UHD 620 graphics. The standard $699 price gives you 8GB DDR4 (2133/2400MHz), expandable to 64GB, plus a 250GB SSD, but you can shave $100 off the price by skipping the SSD ($60) and bringing your own RAM ($40).

Librem 5

The SSD is plugged into an M.2 slot, which supports PCIe Gen3 x4, SATA III, and NVMe x4. The system also provides a SATA III interface where storage options start with a 256GB SSD for $129. There’s also a GbE port and an optional, dual-band 802.11n module (Atheros ATH9k) with Bluetooth 4.0 costs $29 more.

The Librem Mini provides [email protected] enabled DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 ports, as well as optional 24- and 32-inch displays. You also get 4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, and a USB Type-C 3.1 port.

The 1 kg system has a 3.5mm audio combo jack, a VESA mount, a power button, and a DC input jack with a choice of adapters. A keyboard/mouse combo is optional.

 
Further information

The Librem Mini is available for pre-order at $699 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. A barebones model without either sells for $599. Shipments will start one month after the $50K goal is met. More information may be found in the Purism announcement, product page, and shopping page.