Sorry, I can’t speak from my own experience.
But as I understand it and judging by the pictures, the speaker and the camera are two different parts, that can be removed from the top-module, since they are not soldered.
I come to this conclusion as well, because the next bullit-point reads:
- The headphone jack as well as the proximity and ambient light sensors are soldered onto the breakout board.
So, you can take out just the camera and keep the earpiece speaker.
I agree, that you most likely would have to use a headphone if you take out the earpiece speaker as well.
Regarding laptops I - unfortunately - have to admit, that I am still stuck with MS Windows.
But you might want to open a new topic to discuss System 76 laptops, since I don’t remember having seen them mentioned in this forum.
Or you might use one of the existing threads like especially:
(If you are interested, I can reopen that topic, that was automatically closed a few weeks ago.)