MNT Research Unveils the Slimmer, More Powerful, But Just as Open MNT Reform Next Laptop

Open hardware specialist MNT Research has unveiled its next-generation laptop, designed as the successor to the MNT Reform for those who need something a little larger than the Pocket Reform: the MNT Reform Next.

"A future proof laptop with a retro futuristic aesthetic: this is MNT Reform Next," claims MNT Research's Lukas Hartmann. "Based on Classic MNT Reform, our new laptop takes Open Source Hardware to a new level. By combining high performance and high mobility with modularity, customizability, and repairability, MNT Reform Next has the potential to become more than just your daily driver."

The original MNT Reform was unveiled six years ago as an open-as-possible laptop in which everything, from the design for the case to the motherboard, was released under an open license. Two years later MNT Research launched a crowdfunding campaign for a second-generation design, which reached backers a year later — delivering a truly open design, though one with a few issues of note. The company then put the concept in the wash, pulling out the shrunken Pocket Reform netbook — and now is returning to full-scale devices with the Reform Next.

"While Classic MNT Reform is a portable device, we felt like a sleeker, more lightweight design would increase portability and make for a more flexible laptop," Hartmann explains. "Not only did we manage to increase portability — we also wanted MNT Reform Next to be highly performant. Our latest compatible processor module, the RK3588, makes it possible. It is suitable for software development, open source CAD/media work, and OpenGL 3.1 gaming and emulation."

The Reform Next's system-on-module (SOM) — which can be swapped out for other modules, if required — features four Arm Cortex-A76 cores running at up to 2.4GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 1.8GHz, an Arm Mali G610-MP4 graphics processor compatible with the open-source Panthor driver, a choice of 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and connectivity including PCI Express 3.0, 2.0, and USB 3.0. This is no longer attached to a single, monolithic motherboard; instead, the Reform Next uses a more modular design, with task-specific boards filling the chassis.

That chassis is now considerably slimmer than what the company is now calling the Classic MNT Reform, thanks to a handful of changes: the retro-aesthetic 3D-printed trackball is gone, swapped out for a more traditional trackpad, with low-profile buttons; the aforementioned modular board layout, which takes up less room than the old motherboard; and a new custom battery pack based on 18650 cells, which — unlike the Classic MNT Reform — can be swapped from a default LiFoPO4 chemistry to the more common and higher-capacity lithium-ion.

While the project has progressed to the point of showing off a working 3D-printed prototype, MNT Research isn't quite ready to start taking orders: the MNT Reform Next is described as "still at the prototype stage," after which the 3D-printed chassis will be replaced with one milled from aluminum and a crowdfunding campaign launched for earlier orders. Pricing has not yet been disclosed.

More details are available on the MNT Research website.