Given the very few interactions on this desktop mode topic for previous FP versions, I doubt this. I still think the majority does not care at all and will never notice.
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I think its just a gimmick. I also was thinking this would be a hold back for a lot. But this sticks to the idea behind fairphone. Just the thing putting in the phone you really need.
The reason why we need a USB-C port is to charge and to maybe transfer data. You don’t always need the high end technics just to keep something working.
I’m using a Oneplus 11 for 2 years now, he is still rocking solid and doesn’t have USB-C 3.x and I really don’t miss it! Really a lot of people will not miss it if you behind the idea of fairphone itself.
In my eyes the processor could be a bigger hold back then USB-C 2.0 
I understand that FP6 doesn’t have dp alt mode, and I do understand ehy. Wish it were there, but if that sacrifice is what got all the other goodies into FP6 then that’s fine by me.
…that being said, if someone wanted to try and make FP6 have DP Alt-mode by designing a USB ’ port module, does the phone’s motherboard and interconnect cable have the necessary data “lanes” to somehow implement support?
I know Apple’s base iPhones also only have usb-c 2.0, but they went out of their way to implement DisplayPort. If I were so inclined to do the same, what would I need to do so, in terms of info on the device itself, firmware, code, means of production, etc?
I really want FP6, but I am part of that atypical user group that uses the displayport functionality of their phones. Is this something that can even be done, in terms of connections and custom fab?
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No, this won’t be possible. The needed lanes from the chip to the bottom module are missing on the mainboard.
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damn, yeah that would make sense.
Maybe there’s a way to add such lanes, such as through any cablesmaybe add a small co-processor to jack the feed of the display and pipe that to usb-c displayport pins of a new usb-c module?
I mean, custom fab PCBs have really come a far way, but I don’t really know what else needs to be accounted for.
To be clear, I’m not expecting or asking Fairphone to do this, but maybe we in the community could?
No, that won’t work either. You cannot work on the existing PCB (due to missing space and things like all USB-lanes must be of equal length) and making an own PCB is also out of the question, since we are surely talking about multilayers and SMD parts.
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I looked through the spare parts section and there are no mother board. But there could/should be, I think, adding the “USB 3.0 feature”. The USB-C port it self is a spare. I want to enjoy this capability of tuning the phone into a desktop with Android 16, the thought of it is powerful. The current OTA (On the Go) makes it possible to connect keyboards and mice (althoug bluetooth might be more appropriate). Is it possible to do this wireless perhaps?
Isn’t it possible to simply connect an external display to simply mirror the screen to e.g. a TV with an USB-C to HDMI cable as working e.g. on FP4?
FP4 has USB 3.0 and display out, despite its age.
So the issue is linked to display out or what? But that’s code and not hardware or am I mistaken?
Because Display out should be also possible with USB2.0 or not?
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The Snapdragon 7s Gen3 supports it, but a few small components seem to be required, in addition to extra traces on the circuit board.
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Are here any people who already tried cast to screen with a Google Chromecast and watching a video on e.g. Firefox (asking here especially about experiences with apps that don’t support cast to Chromecast natively as it’s very different in quality from my experience)? Chromecast should have very little latency and also the quality should be rather good.
Bandwidth might be an issue. Supporting a 4K screen with 60Hz needs some bandwidth.
I find the wording of the FAQ page so strange, they say the display port is currently not supported…
It’s a hardware issue. Display out (actually it’s called displayport alt mode) via usb-c requires hardware support, both on the soc as well as the port itself and the connections in between.
Both the FP4 and FP5 have it. The FP6 has a soc that does support it, but apparently they didn’t add the required connections to the mainboard and support to the buttom module. So there is also no way a future upgrade or a custom module could add usb-c 3 with dp alt mode.
There is an alternative called displaylink over USB. This is somewhat of a software thing, but it’s not widely supported, very limited in bandwidth, resolution, and refresh rate. And it requires a special displaylink dock, so a usb-c to hdmi cable doesn’t cut it. It’s quite bad actually.
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Thanks!
Which then brings me to the question about the FP6 performance with Miracast and or Chromecast
- you need to buy and carry with you yet another device
- you need software support in application running on the phone
- much higher latency and lower quality of image
- it’s not plug&play, you need to configure both ends
In another word, you have phone capable to process and feed with high quality image any “dumb” monitor, but there are missing some cheap parts, so you need to spend even more bucks for additional “smart” device and struggle with some technical limitations of this particular technology. For me it sounds like loose-loose solution.
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I’d simply like to know how the experience is e.g. with the 29€ Chromecast that can be mounted on any TV (in my use case at least I’d let it simply there so no need to carry anything around anywhere). Use case is only to stream from the phone to my TV.
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For streaming you don’t even need a phone. For 40-50€ you can buy a box with Android TV OS. For a few dollars extra you get a fully standalone device. But it’s still not a proper replacement for poor I/O in the phone itself.
There is even nice article about repurposing older phones (The Fairphone 2 is reborn... as a circular microcomputer - Fairphone), but good luck with getting full potential of FP6 with USB 2.0.
I also guess that streaming is less energy efficient. So we can’t get wireless charging for exactly that reason, but we can waste energy on image compression just to send it over WiFi to other display few meters away and waste additional energy to decompress it and pass trough regular cable to display. And to do that you need literally a two mini computers. 
I think for most people display out and USB 3 speed isn’t a big issue or something that they will notice. That’s why I’m surprised there’s a lot of discussion about this and apparently many people want them 
Personally it is a big bummer for me and the main reason I wouldn’t get the FP Gen 6. Maybe I’ll get it as my Android phone but I’m using Ubuntu Touch as my main mobile OS and external display is kind of a big deal there…at least for contributors or devs like me
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That won’t enable you to use Android in desktop mode.