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Comment by wtallis | Hacker News Reader

Is there something new here? The processor options seem to be two generation old Intel, one generation old Intel, and one generation old AMD.

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I can't imagine the supply chain challenges inherent to startup laptop manufacturers. I think it's "go with what you have access to at reasonable prices, or forget about it. "

I think Framework is a good example of how smaller laptop OEMs end up shipping late, often on the order of three quarters. This is something else entirely, if any of these configurations are recent arrivals (I don't think they are).

I don’t believe they actually make the hardware. I know sytem76 always just rebadges Clevo hardware. You were basically paying for Linux to be preinstalled and for the Linux focused support.

EDIT. Actually it looks like I was wrong about that. They do apparently at least make their own chassis’s unsure about the motherboard’s or screens though.

system76 does not make their laptops, they do make some of their desktop lines though. System76 however is large enough that they get input into what Clevo designs - they Clevo often changes the hardware internals, but system76 ensures that the new hardware still has linux drivers. (in some cases system76 has shipped a laptop with something announced as not supported on linux, but this is rare and the rest of the features still works, and this is only done for a feature they figure linux users wouldn't use anyway)

System76 has long been working on their own laptop - every few years they make a progress report announcement - but I don't expect to see it anytime soon.

This might be driven by coreboot support?

Yes, believe it takes a year or so for full support of a new chip/set. They are finally making progress on AMD as well, despite poor docs.

https://us.starlabs.systems/blogs/news/coreboot-on-the-amd-s...

This might be a dumb question, but for a dedicated Linux computer why would Starlabs choose Intel or AMD over an ARM design?

For a Windows computer, x64 makes sense because backwards compatibility is a big deal. But a Linux machine doesn't have the same problem, at least not to the same degree. Couldn't an ARM-based design be used to make a Linux laptop with Apple-like performance per watt?

They’re still going to be some point somewhere where you can find the amd64 version of a binary and not the ARM version.

I agree with you that it would be more rare than trying to live in Windows ARM world, but I’m not sure it’s entirely a lossless experience yet for your personal computer.

Which high performance Linux supported SoC should they use on your opinion?

Tuxedo tried to make an ARM laptop using Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X but gave up: https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2025/11/26/tuxedo-slams-...

I have the Intel Core i9 in my 2019 MBP, and it gets so damn hot. How do the ones offered here compare? I'm not one to upgrade frequently, but the heat of this thing makes me go looking. Luckily, it sits on a stand on a desk with more 9s than github is up.

A 2019 MacBook Pro would have an Intel Skylake processor (N-th re-release), made on Intel's stagnant 14nm process. The older Intel option for the StarFighter has its CPU cores made on an Intel process two generations newer, and the rest of the chiplets made by TSMC. The newer Intel option moves the CPU chiplet to TSMC as well. They're in a very different league for power efficiency than your current machine, both from the fab improvements and from having a microarchitecture that's not from 2015.

Okay, but what does that mean for the temp of the case while sitting in one's lap. Can it be done without getting second degree burns?

Case temperature is very much at the discretion of the laptop OEM. Some OEMs take regulatory limits on skin temperature seriously and ship a well-tuned thermal control system that keeps the case at a comfortable temperature. Others push close to the legal limits to keep fan noise in check. Others ship plastic enclosures so they can get away with even higher temperatures (since plastic has lower thermal conductivity than metal, and thus a harder time cooking your thighs) at the expense of more noise.

The StarFighter has a metal case, so when running at high power levels (45W sustained according to the spec sheet) it will either get uncomfortably hot somewhere on the case or at least a bit noisy from the fans, but since it's a bit thicker than the 2019 MacBook Pro it should be able to cool itself more effectively. But when running at the performance level you're used to the power draw should be plenty low enough to make temperature and fan noise not a problem: roughly double the peak CPU performance means you can turn down the power limits a lot and still have a better-performing machine.

Every generation of CPU has high-power and low-power variants. The i9 is a high power variant that generates a lot of heat but what you want is the low power variant.

I recommend looking for a used laptop with a Core Ultra 7 165U (<$500) or a Core Ultra 7 268V (>$1000). Maybe an HP EliteBook. Either one would be faster than your old i9 and run much cooler.

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