Pine64's 14-inch Linux laptop PineBook Pro will offer a Rockchip RK3399 SoC and 4 GB RAM for US$200

Those in the hunt for a cheap 14-inch Linux laptop could do worse than stick around and see what Pine64 eventually delivers with the Pinebook Pro. The single-board specialist has chosen a Rockchip RK3399 SoC with an integrated Mali-T860 MP4 GPU as the key components for the laptop. The 6-core RK3399 is based on the big.LITTLE architecture and features a dual-core Cortex-A72 with a quad-core Cortex-A53.

Along with the single-board computer heart, the Pinebook Pro will apparently come with 4 GB RAM, 64 GB of eMMC storage (upgradeable to 128 GB), a 10,000-mAh battery, stereo speakers, headphone jack, and USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and USB Type-C ports. There is a 1080p IPS display installed and the laptop’s body is made from magnesium alloy. If the final price does end up being around US$199/US$200 then customers shouldn’t feel short-changed for hardware at least.

The Pinebook Pro can also manage 4K video playback via USB Type-C, which is another upgrade over its Pinebook predecessor. The laptop is compatible with both Ubuntu and Debian and there will be a customizable ISO keyboard fitted to the Pinebook Pro. Once Pine64 has solved the sound issues and the charging circuitry problem mentioned in the video preview, then it looks like there will be a new challenger in the Chromebook-dominated low-cost laptop market.