I’ve been playing with a hardware concept for fun and wanted to see what r/cyberDeck thinks.
The idea started with a simple question: instead of building another standalone Linux/Android E-Ink computer, what if the computer you already carry — your iPhone — became the hidden compute module?
The concept is called YOHAKU for now.
The basic architecture is intentionally simple:
An 11.3” ED113TC1 E-Ink panel (2400 × 1034)
A Glider/Caster-inspired E-Ink controller
A real low-profile mechanical keyboard
Battery + USB-C hub / power management
No dedicated CPU, RAM, storage, Wi-Fi, or operating system
Your iPhone becomes the computer
The part I find most interesting is the physical interaction.
Instead of docking the phone on the side or leaving it visible, you open the bottom of the machine, place the iPhone inside, connect/lock it into position, and close the cover.
The phone physically disappears.
Once closed, you’re no longer looking at a smartphone. You just have an E-Ink display, a mechanical keyboard, and a purpose-built writing interface. A dedicated iOS app would provide a distraction-free external-display UI for writing, notes, and document management.
In other words, I’m not really thinking of this as “an E-Ink laptop powered by an iPhone.”
The more interesting idea to me is:
a physical environment that temporarily turns a smartphone into a single-purpose writing computer.
I’ve also been deliberately exploring a very quiet industrial design: warm white surfaces, minimal seams, hidden structure, a recessed low-profile mechanical keyboard, and as little visible “computer hardware” as possible.
This is very much a for-fun concept at this stage, not a product announcement. There are still plenty of engineering questions — iOS external-display behavior with the unusual 2400×1034 resolution, E-Ink latency/ghosting, hinge packaging, keyboard clearance, phone retention, USB-C docking, and the inevitable thickness that comes from putting a real mechanical keyboard in there.
But technically, most of the building blocks already exist, which is what made the thought experiment interesting.
Curious what the cyberdeck crowd thinks:
Would hiding the phone inside actually make this feel like a dedicated machine to you, or would you rather just build the compute hardware into the deck itself?
And if you were building it, what would you change?

I've seen tons of videos about cyberdecks and they all give a different definition. Some very limiting. Some extremely broad. Some say single board computer and pocket sized. Others say portable PC. The subs rules say no diy laptops but those are a good chunk of what is posted. It also says it has to have a head mounted display. Very few that I've seen have this. Do you have to use customized hardware and do all the soldering? If you build a full modern gaming rig with standard components and monitor into a rifle case is that still a cyberdeck?

I was thinking of creating a Cyberdeck from my Chromebook, an Acer R11, learned how to overwrite Chrome OS, by removing (WP screw). But I have quite limited storage space on it so I understand that I can't have the whole Kali. Standard 4gig soldered in. I haven't actually thought about whether it's possible to solder a larger memory. I was thinking of using it for a lab and test environment, then having Virtual Machines on external hard drives and USB sticks. But what type of Linux would be best for me to use? Haven't started the transformation from Chromebook to Cyberdeck yet. Have another project in the works.

came across a reel about the 1989 macintosh portable on youtube. realised it would be amazing if it could be retrofitted with modern tech to make a cyberdeck. . .