At Framework, we believe the time has come for consumer electronics products that are designed to last. Founded in San Francisco in 2019, our mission is to empower you with great products you can easily customize, upgrade, and repair, increasing longevity and reducing e-waste in the process.
Today, we are excited to unveil our first product: the Framework Laptop, a thin, lightweight, high-performance 13.5” notebook that can be upgraded, customized, and repaired in ways that no other notebook can.
This product – be sure to read the description and features – seems too good to be true. I hope they can keep their promises, because this is exactly what a lot of people are looking for.
To me, it just looks like they put the usb-c dongles inside the laptop. It’s certainly more convenient, but not earthshaking. The other “modular” features such as keyboard, screen and memory replacement are only special if you got caught into the apple-ification hype when buying a previous laptop.
Yeah, that’s what it looks like – recessed USB-C ports. TBH I have nothing against this idea, except for the fact that I don’t see any locking mechanism, which means that the expansion cards are being held in place primarily by the friction in the USB-C connector itself – which in my experience is actually pretty weak and prone to get weaker over time.
Being unable to replace the memory is unfortunately not limited to Apple computers – the Dell XPS, for instance, essentially “the” go-to laptop of choice for a Windows/Linux equivalent to the MacBook Pro, doesn’t let you upgrade RAM either. Replacing the screen or especially the motherboard are things that usually require buying parts over eBay or other unofficial sources, and the “repairability” as iFixit would call it varies widely. So you’re right in the sense that technically it’s not that difficult an achievement, but in terms of supporting the user’s ability to repair, it’s a huge step forward.
They could be thunderbolt dongles. Either way, that’s a smart idea, and one of those obvious ideas everyone overlooked. USB-C is a standard connector, and people could create adapters for all sorts of things via 3D printing.
I like the idea.
Like https://shop.fairphone.com/ ?
It seems to be similar in spirit, yes. It looks like they’re US based, so we should get this one without asterisks.
Fairphone are from Holland (EU), not the US.
Seems to suffer of the same oversight as so many laptops before it: keyboard mount is cast into the frame, making swapping keyboard with a different (localized) layout impossible.
I’m also stuck with a “foreign” laptop since my old decide broke down during an extended stay in abroad and I had to get a replacement quickly. Ebay is full of alternative keyboard layouts for this model but I cannot install them without replacing the whole chassis…
Dell Vostro 3550 and this is it (1m12s) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDzltWNtbwE
Lenovo Idepapad 330 and this is it (17m47s 2x speed) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOUR5vp9Mw
Pick your choice…
I’m pretty happy with the modularity and replaceability of my Thinkpad components. Pretty much everything can be swapped out or replaced. I have a new 15″ 1080p screen waiting to go in one laptop as an upgrade from a lower resolution display. I’ve already swapped in a UK keyboard for the US keyboard which was supplied and upgraded the memory to 16GB. I could swap in a quad core CPU but am sitting on the fence with this.
My laptop cost around £1400 when new and I picked it up for £200 in “as new” condition? Yes it’s a brick but there is no way I could have got anything new to the same specification after upgrades without spending silly money.
Dell Precision and Latitude lines are the same way. They’re pretty much Lego sets, and Dell posts all of their excellent service manuals online.
@Flatland Spider
I have a thing for Thinkpads but looked at some of the Dell laptops with similar specifications in the same price range. When skimming online discussions and product websites it was a thing with Thinkpads and I never noticed the same for Dell. It didn’t leap out in the same way. Still, it’s nice to know it is done. It’s a selling point for me even if 90%+ of the time it’s more a comfort factor than something I need all the time.
Apart from the motherboard pretty much the entire laptop could be produced by generic suppliers. I have seen a teardown comparison of a Thinkpad versus an Mac laptop. For that aprticular generation the Thinkpad was a brick whereas the Mac had the same in a much smaller space with much longer nattery life but it goes to demonstrate the point there is quite a bit of wiggle room within laptop form factors to provide for a more generic base. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to begin asking why don’t laptop motherboards follow a design scheme that allows for generic manufacture and replacement. The size, layout, and basic engineering issues of thermal and power, and functionality do need to be taken into account but in the round I’m not persuaded any manufacturers product is so unique and so special it needs an extreme custom design every time. If that 1mm is so precious maybe they are in the wrong industry?
I would also add universal docks to the list.
I like Thinkpads too. Mainly for the Trackpoint. My T420 is still working. 🙂
I’ve worked with Dells quite a bit, and they’re easy to find second hand as they come off corporate leases.
Thinkpad component quality and value also took a pretty good dip after Lenovo bought the brand, and Dell Latitudes of the same vintage are better machines. The screen on my T420 is TN, low-res, and trash. The keyboard has a very sharp snap, and it’s not that nice to type on. Dells keyboards of the time were much smoother. I had a Thinkpad W700 which was a flimsy piece of junk.
I’m not sure. Computer engineering isn’t my forte.
Clevo might do this, but they’re pretty ugly.
I wish the industry had created an ATX-type standard for laptops. It would solve a lot of problems.
Feels like a marketing scheme. It’s something many IT folks would love to see, but ignores realities of laptop manufacturing. Every OEM has to take into account all kinds of thermal, power, and functionality features. You can’t always have all 3, especially in a tiny format like a 13″ laptop. Compromises must be made, and they often require physical changes to the box.
A good example of this are the new Macs. Apple had to make definitive decisions between the Air and Pro as to how to cool them, how long either could sustain large processing jobs and how big a battery would be needed for each. Whether Apple made the correct decisions or not isn’t the point. The point is there is a lot to take into consideration that most of us non-engineer types would likely not get right.
For myself, I picked up a Lenovo X1 Extreme. I purchased it with the least amount of RAM and storage I could manage. Once it arrived, I already had in hand replacements for both of those saving a considerable amount of money. Likely that will all I’ll be able to update on that.
It’s just highly unlikely anyone will be able to replace the customizations you can with a desktop PC. I suppose one can dream.
I’m sure it is. Why would people start building Windows laptops in 2021 without some sort of angle to distance themselves from Dell, HP, Acer, etc.?
I’m curious is System76 could source some laptops from them.
I don’t think that’s their mission. The two things I’m seeing that they’re targeting: dongles, the amount of glue in laptops.
There was an article, or something, where a mechanical engineer was talking about how gluing components together was lazy engineering. They were talking about Apple hardware specifically. He was saying Apple could design hardware with a minimal amount of glue, but they took the easy way out.
I think this is an interesting project especially since more manufacturers are reducing the serviceability of their products.
Can the battery be replaced without melting glue or soldering connections?
Flatland Spider,
What’s wrong with soldering connections?
(This was my last phone)
https://ibb.co/XC6Gcgx
The micro-usb port failed (I hate that USB standard so much…) I was going on a trip on short notice and desperately needed a way to charge/use the phone until my replacement arrived. Luckily I wasn’t traveling by air, I’m not sure what they would think of my DIY fix at the security checkpoint, haha.
My soldering skills. XD It’s been ~19 years since I soldered something.
Flatland_Spider,
Yeah, I meant it sarcastically. Incidentally I have yet to own a device where the battery is actually soldered in. Loosening a few screws and popping off a cable is something I think anyone can do without needing much skill. IMHO the hardest part is really getting inside in the first place, especially if there’s glue!
With laptops I tend to be way behind the cutting edge and not to buy the latest and greatest, but this only works for so long. It’s already become very hard to find laptops fitting my requirements, which means my luck may be running out in the future as I’m forced to follow the manufacturing trends.
This link works.
https://ibb.co/ryDp1ZX
Side note: can we get the “edit” link back on osnews or is this feature gone for good?
For real. Or switch to Flarum, or something, for discussions?
Agreed, this lack of editing sucks.
Metrol,
I think it’s a laudable goal. But the problem with such a small manufacturer doing it is that it’s too niche. I really want to see more manufacturers on board because I don’t want to get locked in. Hypothetically if all the top tech companies joined hands, it would make a huge difference for reuable/repairable components, but they’re actually going in the opposite direction. Components are becoming less repairable. Even those who are qualified to open and repair laptops are seeing more roadblocks such as genuine manufacturer components that fail thanks to digital restrictions designed to combat our right to repair 🙁
https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/30/21542242/apple-iphone-12-third-party-repairs-ifixit-camera-module-replacement
And while I try to use my vote (aka cash) to buy less restrictive platforms when I can, unfortunately consumers like myself aren’t a very profitable demographic, and that’s what the corporations care about.
I am immediately interested. But no mention of price, so that’s not looking good. I don’t see why a modular/upgradeable laptop should have to be exponentially more expensive than a run of the mill model, but that’s what it’s looking like if they don’t mention price.
Another possibility is that they don’t wish to mention something they might not have sufficient data in place on. Promising one thing and delivering another seems, to me, like it creates a lot more friction than simply delivering such information later. Pricing is touchy.
Of course, hopefully it’s not much more expensive. As a small manufacturer I doubt they’ll be able to get the most competitive prices without cutting corners, and this is a product where the appeal is in not cutting corners, so to speak.
Looks clunky. At least it has a 3:2 display, I’m still hoping 4:3 will make a comeback one day.
How well will those replaceable port modules stay in after a few years, will they end up falling out and getting lost? It would be better if the went completely inside the case like a PCMCIA card and screwed in place. It appears they are only held in with a plastic clip and sliding rail. Those will probably snap off in a few years of usage.
I don’t think it’s hard to make a long lasting laptop, but there isn’t much incentive to do so for manufacturers with razor thin margins. It’s mostly an economic problem and the limitations of the form factor. I’m typing this on my 6 year old T450s which is still going strong and nothing has broken on it except the SD card spring-loading mechanism.
I think they selected wrong target for modular construction – 15″ or 17″ would provided much more flexibility for this.
IIRC 13 inch is the most popular form factor.. and I happen to prefer it too. Makes sense to me.
I bought my 15″ laptop as a portable desktop. I would have bought a 17″ if one was available I could have afforded at the time. It’s almost always plugged into a dock, desk monitor, and external keyboard. I have no idea why 13 inch is the most popular form factor. It could be price, what is pushed at retail, ignorance, or because it fits the majority of end users lifestyles. How does this break down in terms of demographics, and work versus students versus children? Most popular doesn’t mean best nor what people necessarily want. It’s just most popular.
I’ve experimented with a few different laptop sizes. As someone who takes their laptop with them nearly everywhere, even if it won’t necessarily be used, a 13-inch just feels a lot more portable. Relatedly, I feel the tablet size I got, 12-inch, is too big.
Of course, if I intend to primarily use my laptop at a desk, and won’t be lugging it around too much, I prefer the larger screen sizes.