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That's not really the problem. I can take the ATX case that I used for a DDR2 Core 2 Duo and put a DDR4 Ryzen in there. I can use the same PC screen for as long
by zrm 7y ago
That's not really the problem. I can take the ATX case that I used for a DDR2 Core 2 Duo and put a DDR4 Ryzen in there. I can use the same PC screen for as long as I'm satisfied with it even if it lasts through four generations of CPU and memory technology. And because they're fungible, there are scads of parts available for the old hardware even if nobody really makes it anymore, because a stick of DDR2 from an old HP Athlon II works fine in an old Dell Core 2 Duo, much less between two models from the same OEM.
So why not with phones too? All it would require is to standardize dimensions and power connectors for system boards etc. It doesn't even require absolute uniformity. You can have the equivalent of mATX, ATX, E-ATX, etc. for different size devices, as long as the board dimensions and connectors for a ~6" phone are the same as for another ~6" phone.
- lnsru 7y agoCellphone is extremely space constrained device, ATX main board case isn’t really valid argument. I build last computer very long time ago, but I think, that motherboard for Core 2 Duo also requires different power supply connector than Ryzen. Basically only the case and monitor are common components for both. I don’t think, major players want to standardize components. This might cost more and add limitations.
- zrm 7y agoIt has been ATX12V/EPS12V since around the Pentium 4, which itself only added more 12V rails to the original ATX connector to supply more power. Moreover, ATX and ATX12V power supplies have the same dimensions, use the same mounting, and the original 20-pin ATX connector is still the same. The newer power supplies can generally be used on older system boards going back to the mid 1990s and many of them separate the 24-pin connector into 20+4 for exactly that reason. It's not just the case and monitor. Drive bays have standard sizes and mounting (2.5", 3.5", 5.25"), the SATA connector has been the same since its introduction even though modern systems support higher speeds using it (and is also electrically compatible with the SAS connector and SAS HBAs typically support both), expansion cards have standard dimensions and use standard PCIe slots, etc. They'll make breaking changes from time to time (e.g. PATA to SATA, PCI to PCIe), but it's typically a decade or more between them and then many systems will support both for years after that. PCIe was introduced in 2003 but you can still find new systems with 32-bit PCI slots, and SATA to PATA adapters are available. If you want to you can build a PC with the latest CPU, install a SCSI HBA into it and connect that to a hard drive from the 1980s that will fit into the same drive bay as a modern 3.5" hard drive. Granted there are more space constraints in a phone, but that doesn't mean you can't do it at all. And an iMac or Mac Mini is not ATX. There is no law requiring every device to follow every part of the standard if it's necessary to satisfy some other constraint. But a G5 iMac is basically slag; the contemporaneous ATX PC has half a dozen components that could plausibly be reused in a modern PC.
- thinkmassive 7y agoHopefully we start to see some system-on-module (SoM) standards established soon. DLT one (Damn Linux Tablet) is a project I recently discovered on Hackaday that’s taking this approach. One of the two SoMs being considered uses a SoC very similar to the one chosen for the Purism Librem 5. The other SoM is a Jetson Nano. https://hackaday.io/project/164845-dlt-one-a-damn-linux-tablet https://hackaday.io/project/164845-dlt-one-a-damn-linux-tabl...