Back in early 2021, the California startup revealed plans to launch a 13-inch laptop that users can upgrade, repair, and customize to their personal needs and preferences. Now the company is about to launch Framework Laptop 16. This allows users to upgrade individual graphics.
It seems not so long ago that upgrading laptop components was at least possible, if not easy, without consulting an expensive professional or arranging a trip to an authorized service center. But our apparent desire for ever thinner and lighter portable workstations has nearly closed the repair/upgrade path for users. Even something as simple as replacing a dead battery with a new one requires special tools and requires lengthy and detailed procedures. Instructions, and nerves of steel.
The framework was designed from the ground up to allow users to upgrade, customize and repair the wraps, with the aim of extending the life of products and potentially helping reduce the world’s giant e-waste problem. At the top, we aimed to buck that trend in 2021.
The company took Intel’s 12th generation Core processors last year, naturally offered an upgrade kit for owners of existing models, and partnered with Google to offer the Chromebook Edition. Currently, 13 laptop models feature the 13th Gen Intel Core processing brain, and the Framework also adds AMD Ryzen 7040 series models. Pre-built laptops start at $1,049, DIY editions start at $849, and upgrades are available for existing owners.
Framework
But arguably the most exciting news comes in the form of Framework Laptop 16. It’s a high-performance model aimed at gamers, content creators, engineers, and other demanding users and, as you might imagine, built around an upgrade/repair/customize design. philosophy.
Full specs, pricing and availability have yet to be revealed, but we do know that the 16-inch laptop will add an expansion bay system that allows power users to upgrade their discrete graphics cards. . This design allows the thickness and depth of the laptop to be fairly fluid, giving it “very design flexibility to deal with generation-to-generation changes in the mechanical, thermal, and electrical requirements of GPUs.” brought.
If users don’t need the latest and greatest graphics hardware, expansion bays can accommodate other component upgrades via the PCIe x8 interface. Framework has already developed dual M.2 SSD storage for 16 TB storage boost. Third-party developers can also load the interface’s open-source documentation to build AI accelerators, video capture devices, SDR radios, and more, and drop them into the expansion bay shell.
In this model, the Framework also chose to add the option of text input to the user. Three hot-swap modules are now available, two with a numeric keypad and one without a numeric keypad.
The company says a number of tiny numeric keypad flavors will accommodate color customization, but suggests it could also create LED matrices, haptic sliders, and more. A medium numeric keypad module can incorporate a secondary display or macro pad. The large keyboard module, on the other hand, is being developed as a normal backlit version that supports “various languages” and a version with RGB backlighting for gamers and creators.
Again, the open-source nature of the design means developers might come up with “jog wheels, sliders, touchscreen displays, E-ink notepads, smartcard readers, etc. In fact, pretty much anything. can be created in the input module, the only limits are your imagination and the height constraint of 3.7 mm.”
Framework
Like its predecessor, the 13-inch model, the Framework 16 supports an expansion card system, allowing users to decide on port and storage options, but with space for three cards on each side. The old 3.5 mm headphone jack has been replaced with a new audio expansion card that allows users to listen through analog, USB or wireless headsets.
The company will post open-source documentation for Input Modules, Expansion Bay Modules, and Expansion Cards on GitHub, allowing developers to set about creating a “robust and vibrant ecosystem of modules with the launch of Framework Laptop 16.” We encourage you to do so. A framework marketplace is also planned for the future to allow individuals and companies to sell third-party modules to their users.
“Framework Laptop 16 is intended to be a platform of possibilities,” concludes the Framework press release. “Whether you’re a gamer, developer, heavy Linux user, creator, or any other performance-demanding job, the Framework Laptop 16 is built to be customized to your needs.” Pre-orders are expected to open in the coming weeks, and deliveries to customers are expected to begin in late 2023.
Source: Framework
