PINE64 Launches Quartz64 Model B, Begins SOQuartz Blade Production, Relaunches the Pinebook Pro
"The board performed really well running at my monitor’s native 4K resolution," says PINE64's Lukasz Erecinski of early testing.
PINE64, the open-hardware specialist best known for its PinePhone and Pinebook phone and laptop families, has launched a new Quartz64 Model B single-board computer, based on the Rockchip RK3566 system-on-chip — and has begun production of the Blade carrier board for its SOQuartz system-on-module range.
"I had the opportunity to try out the new board earlier this month, and I was very happy with both how well it is supported and with how well it performs," PINE64's Lukasz Erecinski writes of the new Quartz64 Model B. "I tried Manjaro [Linux] with Plasma and, to my surprise, the board performed really well running at my monitor’s native 4K resolution. I will go as far as to say that the Model B would be a great candidate for a 4K kiosk running a dedicated application or a browser-based app. As someone who enjoys playing retro games, I also think it would make for a great small emulation box."
The Quartz64 Model B is based on the Rockchip RK3566 system-on-chip, offering four Arm Cortex-A55 cores with NEON and floating point acceleration running at up to 2GHz, an Arm Mali-G52-E22 graphics processor, a neural network coprocessor with a claimed 0.8 TOPS performance, and an embedded 32-bit RISC-V core.
The chip is installed in a Raspberry Pi-style single-board computer design, adding 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, support for an optional eMMC storage module of up to 128GB capacity, a microSD slot for additional storage, gigabit Ethernet with optional Power-over-Ethernet support, 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, two USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, and a mini-PCI Express slot. The SoC's general-purpose input/output (GPIO) capabilities, meanwhile, are brought out to a color-coded 40-pin header, with a 3.5mm stereo audio and mono mic input to the base alongside HDMI and two-lane MIPI DSI video outputs and a two-lane MIPI-CSI camera input.
As with the earlier Quartz64 Model A, though, the Model B targets "developers and advanced users wishing to contribute to early software development," with buyers warned that it could be some months before it's ready for use in production environments. "[The] Model A and B, as well as the SOQuartz, have found their way into [Linux] kernel 5.19," Erecinski explains. "Now that we’ve got a solid software foundation in place, we need the board to offer a wide diversity of OS choices.
"Manjaro has done a great job, and their OS images are really well maintained, but I am well aware that many need a Debian-based or specialized (e.g. LAKKA) operating system to meet their requirements. So, If you are associated with a project who would like to support the Quartz64 devices, make sure to reach out to me or one of the admins."
At the same time, Erecinski showed off a production sample of the Blade carrier board for the SOQuartz, a system-on-module based on the same core hardware as the Quartz64 single-board computers. "The Blade has been designed for clustering," he explains, "and fits inside a standard 1U server rack: 12 or more Blade hostboards can fit into a single rack. The Blade has been designed to have IO located at the short leading edges, allowing for easy access and cable management as well as tight stacking inside a server rack."
Other news unveiled by Erecinski in the company's latest community update, which can be read in full on the PINE64 website, includes the impending reintroduction of the Pinebook Pro laptop, the promise of more PinePhone Pro supply and functional camera support, and the release of renders showcasing the potential design of the company's upcoming PineBuds Bluetooth earphones.
The Quartz64 Model-B is now available to order at $59.99 from the PINE64 store; pricing for the SOQuartz Blade has yet to be confirmed, while the relaunched Pinebook Pro is expected to appear in the store in late June or early July at $219.