We have had a long road to get to 4K in our second revision of the Librem 15 units. This has not been without frustration with supply chain delays, but we are finally finished testing a fully functional 4K prototype that is ready for mass production.

The story to get the 4K panel is full of ups, downs, twists, and turns. When we learned from one of our suppliers that we could get Samsung 4K panels in our Librem 15, we jumped at the opportunity. We prepaid for the panels, moved the Librem 15 line from 2K (1920×1080) to 4K (3840×2160), and asked if backers would like to get 2K or 4K, shipping 2K and holding the 4K until they would arrive, which moved most orders to 4K. All this was exciting, until Samsung’s 4K panels were on backorder, then backorder again, and again. We were in a real bind, because there was no alternative 4K screen, until LG entered the scene. We then requested a sample 4K screen from LG, modified the case and front panel to fit the new LG 4K screen. We then hit an additional delay on funding the screen purchase, tooling, and assembly, since we prepaid for the Samsung panels we had to look at how to cover the additional cost of LG screens. After juggling some pieces, such as refunds on the Samsung screens, negotiating lower cost from the delays with the supply chain to cover the screen price increase, and even supply chain funding, we got the LG based Librem 15 rev2 4k prototype approved and ready for mass production.

Now that we are approved for mass production on the Librem 15 rev2 4k, we can provide more accurate dates for delivery to backers as we approach receipt of the panels. LG expects to get us the full panel order within 6 to 8 weeks, and we will then assemble and ship through all our back orders within 3 to 4 weeks. Any new orders will be shipping after September.

Thank you for all the support, and patience, as we have worked through an unbelievably painful process working through the supply chain delays. We have learned a lot through this process, and are going to work even harder to avoid this type of delay ever again. We are looking to remove any supply chain delays in the future by raising funds to be able to order enough product to ship from stock.