[megous]

> "people who want [an SPI chip] can just solder one on."

That's how many of the SBCs I own (from differen vendor) are distributed. There's a space to solder the chip. (and you can pick the size you want)

[MartijnBraam]

Might be acceptable for SBCs, definitely not for phones and laptops

[immibis]

If you want to buy a phone that Just Works, buy a Samsung Galaxy or a Google Pixel.

You can also buy a Pine64 product and if you do not like the hardware you are free to modify it to your heart's content. However, they don't owe it to you to perform the modifications you want, certainly not if there is a shortage of the part you want them to install.