Linux PC company System76 is now selling its first laptop powered by an Intel Meteor Lake processor. The latest version of the System76 Lemur Pro is a thin and light laptop with a 14 inch FHD display and support for up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor.
It’s available now for $1399 and up.
The starting price is for a model that… honestly feels a bit overpriced, since $1399 only gets you a Core Ultra 5 125U processor, 8GB of integrated memory, and a 500GB SSD.
But you can also configure the system with up to 56GB of DDR5-4800 memory (there’s a single SODIMM slot, so you can add up to 48GB more RAM), and up to 8TB of storage (there are two PCIe Gen 4 slots).
The Lemur Pro measures just 2.2 pounds (1.15kg) and measures just 0.67 inches (17mm) thick. It has a 14 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel matte display with 72% NTSC color gamut and a 180 degree hinge.
The laptop features a set of ports that includes:
- 1 x Thunderbolt 4
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (for charging and data)
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
- 1 x microSD card reader
There’s also a 2MP webcam, stereo speakers, support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, a backlit keyboard, and a 73 Wh battery. The notebook comes with a 65W USB-C power adapter.
Like most System76 laptops, the key thing setting this system apart from the competition is the software. It ships with a choice of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or System76’s Ubuntu-based Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS operating system.
The company also includes open firmware (including Coreboot, EDK2, and System76 firmware apps as well as the company’s open source embedded controller firmware) and an application for configuring the keyboard and LED lights.
I run a system 76 laptop and love it. I’ve been a Linux user since I bought a Slackware book at b&n with a CD in the back (but had to copy it to over 80 floppy disks because Linux didn’t support my CD ROM drive). I have previously run Linux on think pads, Lenovos, and an origin computer built power house – but this laptop takes the absolute cake. Best battery life on a Linux laptop ever, a “just works” system that I very rarely have to go under the hood to fix, excellent security out of the box, and pop os is actually a joy to use. I love the flatpak system. I configured my laptop with 64gb of RAM, and skimped with a 500gb SSD that I later upgraded to 2TB. It’s easy to open, work on, and close. The only thing I don’t like is my particular laptop only has one HDMI port, no display port and the USB c port won’t do video. That means at my desk I can only run one extra monitor. So I just make it a really big one – which the laptop has no problem running. I’m not much of a gamer (though I run Doom every now and then for kicks!) but she does video processing and graphic editing extremely well and handles all my chrome tabs with ease. I don’t even notice the performance hit from running full disk LUKS encryption. The coating on the outside of the laptop is excellent and I’ve put her through some pretty hard abuse between home office and court rooms.
Very happy system 76 customer, and probably a customer for life.
Nice try there. Not going out of your way at all.
Meteor Lake, but with DDR5-4800? Soldered RAM expandable with a SODIMM, seriously?
Where is port LAN?
I love that this company exists… but it still costs more than a premium dell laptop. As an underdog company it is probably worth it.