Something to look forward to: In a sea of laptops that are getting less or less upgraded or repairable each year, a small business called Framework is trying to work out a new niche with a work computer that offers many customization options and is made in part from recycled aluminum and plastic. Here’s the hope that they will decide to make a laptop in the future.
One of the major complaints about laptops that has been introduced over the past few years is that manufacturers almost always prioritize thin and light design over upgradeability and recoverability. Many PC laptops still have replaceable and / or upgradeable components such as RAM and SSD storage, but in the case of MacBook owners it is all soldered to the logic board, while other things like the battery and Touch Bar are difficult to even for repair workers. with.
In the land of smartphones, consumers have to deal with a similar phenomenon, but there are some companies like Pine64 and Fairphone that are pushing back against the tide with recoverable, modular and even environmentally friendly designs. This week, a startup called Framework announced a laptop built on similar principles, with components that are easy for users to replace or upgrade as needed.
The new laptop has a 13.5-inch, 3: 2 display with a resolution of 2256 by 1504 pixels and more than 400 net brightness. Its components are in an aluminum chassis with a hair less than 16 mm thick, with a total weight of up to 1.3 kg. You can set it up with one of the three 11th-generation Intel Tiger Lake processors with Xe integrated graphics – i5-1135G7, i7-1165G7 or i7-1185G7 – and up to a Wi-Fi 6E module for wireless connectivity.
The CPU is the striking component that cannot be replaced as it is designed as a BGA package soldered to the motherboard. However, the Framework team says that they will be introducing new motherboards in the future when newer CPUs come out, so theoretically this should not be such a big issue. And thanks to the lessons learned with the Alienware Area-51m R1, it’s ultimately up to Intel to make things easier in that division.
You can pair the processor with up to two 32 GB DDR4-3200 RAM modules for a total of 64 GB, and for storage you can set up a spacious 4TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD. The slot supports four-lane PCIe 4.0 drives, so you can install any of the fastest consumer SSDs out there.
For connectivity, the Framework team came up with a handy solution for the USB-C transition – the four ports are enclosed in the case to install the port removal you need for your use case. Since these connections are via USB-C, you can probably lend them to a friend or colleague who needs a USB-A, HDMI, microSD slot, DisplayPort and even a headphone jack. With this system you can also choose which side the gates are on, which may be more frequent than you think.
The screen is also replaceable, as well as the magnetically attached rim that houses the 1080p webcam and microphone with physical privacy switches for both. The keyboard offers a key spacing of 1.5 mm and you can choose a localized version if needed. To power all the components of the Framework laptop is a 55 Wh battery that is also replaceable by the user as it is not glued to the case.
The Framework team plans to launch this laptop with Windows 10 or Linux, starting this summer. There is no price information yet, but we know that it will also be offered as a ‘DIY’ kit for those who want to assemble the laptop themselves. As for the many user-replaceable parts, it is available on the Framework market, which will be open to third-party component sellers.