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And the iPhone has a built-in touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, two cameras, internal storage, a GPU, a bunch of sensors, a giant battery, physical buttons, speake

by bogwog 4y ago

And the iPhone has a built-in touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, two cameras, internal storage, a GPU, a bunch of sensors, a giant battery, physical buttons, speakers, microphone, a giant market for third-party peripherals, cases, chargers, mounts, etc...AND it's way easier to get your hands on an iPhone (especially an old one) than a Raspberry Pi today. Sure, getting everything to work in a Linux port wouldn't be easy, but it does clearly show the value of such a thing.

nerdponx 4y ago
I wonder about the implications of running them in an "always-on" configuration. Would it be possible to remove the battery and run them entirely on AC power? If you could do that, you might be able to have some pretty nice low-power home servers.
- unsafecast 4y ago
  If you just want a server, you can use an android phone already. Either pick one that works with postmarketOS, or termux could work fine (I don't know the overhead of that though). No point in using an iPhone here.
  - bogwog 4y ago
    What should I do with my old iPhones then?
    - squarefoot 4y ago
      Assuming they're ok with being kept on 24/7, they could become IoT terminals. A 10 years old phone should still have enough horsepower if it contained the bare minimum to load just one program that speaks to the home network, or a mpd remote to play music in the given room, communicate through VoIP with other terminals, etc. They could be used also in a lab to show data coming from instrumentation, as secondary display for servers etc. Plenty of uses; the only limitation being represented by the roadblocks (binary blobs, lack of documentation, closed drivers etc.) corporations put in place to prevent any further use of those devices that goes beyond what they have planned.
  - vorpalhex 4y ago
    You could just buy a $2,000 2u rack mounted machine too... or you know, flash an old iphone you have sitting around with Linux.
    - unsafecast 4y ago
      When the project will be ready using an iPhone would make a lot of sense. My point was that it's currently not, but old Android phones do fine too.
- MarioMan 4y ago
  > Would it be possible to remove the battery and run them entirely on AC power? Unfortunately, it seems this is not possible. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/316746/Will+this+phone+turn+on+without+a+battery+plugged+in https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/316746/Will+this+phone+t...
- nielsole 4y ago
  I removed the battery cell from a Samsung battery and powered the battery IC with the nominal DC cell voltage from a power supply. The phone then indefinitely showed a full battery. This might also work with an iphone

by bogwog 4y ago

nerdponx 4y ago

I wonder about the implications of running them in an "always-on" configuration. Would it be possible to remove the battery and run them entirely on AC power? If you could do that, you might be able to have some pretty nice low-power home servers.

unsafecast 4y ago
If you just want a server, you can use an android phone already. Either pick one that works with postmarketOS, or termux could work fine (I don't know the overhead of that though). No point in using an iPhone here.
- bogwog 4y ago
  What should I do with my old iPhones then?
  - squarefoot 4y ago
    Assuming they're ok with being kept on 24/7, they could become IoT terminals. A 10 years old phone should still have enough horsepower if it contained the bare minimum to load just one program that speaks to the home network, or a mpd remote to play music in the given room, communicate through VoIP with other terminals, etc. They could be used also in a lab to show data coming from instrumentation, as secondary display for servers etc. Plenty of uses; the only limitation being represented by the roadblocks (binary blobs, lack of documentation, closed drivers etc.) corporations put in place to prevent any further use of those devices that goes beyond what they have planned.
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  You could just buy a $2,000 2u rack mounted machine too... or you know, flash an old iphone you have sitting around with Linux.
  - unsafecast 4y ago
    When the project will be ready using an iPhone would make a lot of sense. My point was that it's currently not, but old Android phones do fine too.
MarioMan 4y ago
> Would it be possible to remove the battery and run them entirely on AC power? Unfortunately, it seems this is not possible. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/316746/Will+this+phone+turn+on+without+a+battery+plugged+in https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/316746/Will+this+phone+t...
nielsole 4y ago
I removed the battery cell from a Samsung battery and powered the battery IC with the nominal DC cell voltage from a power supply. The phone then indefinitely showed a full battery. This might also work with an iphone