We upgraded a laptop GPU with a snap — and six screws.
“Reviews of the original Framework Laptop 13 were a little skeptical; my colleague Monica repeatedly pointed out that an upgradable laptop’s value “hinges on future support.” But in 2022, her headline was “promises kept.” And this year, as Framework shipped its third set of CPU upgrades for the Framework 13 while simultaneously improving battery life, she called the 2023 revisions “a DIY dream come true.””
I’m a long-time Mac user but I’m very excited about this laptop. I’ve been interested in Framework for a while, but 13” screen was too small for me. This new 16” screen is perfect.
There was an issue with the 11th gen mainboards (the first Framework laptop generation) that if the laptop was left unplugged for too long (like, weeks), the internal RTC battery would deplete and the system would become unbootable without resetting the mainboard. They fixed it in the next generation, though.
I’m actually upset that there is a laptop with this much modularity and there are no god damn physical mouse buttons in sight. Good lord. Fake buttons suck.
In the article it mentioned that Framework isn’t against third party mods like a swappable battery where the gpu slot goes. With this in mind, I’m sure there will be third party options with different mouse pads that actually have buttons.
Unless there physically isn’t enough space.
It actually would be nice if we could replace that entire trackpad plate with something more useful, for people who use a mouse 100% of the time. Imagine like a programmable macropad or something.
Not even ThinkPads. I can’t find any aside from HP ZBooks. I don’t care about HP, and they are very large and heavy. Plus, they’re very expensive. Think $6k for something reasonably high-end.
I haven’t researched laptop prices in ages so I’m not sure what things go for these days. They mention in the article that this laptop will be expensive, but I didn’t get a feel for how expensive. What’s the premium for a laptop like this when comparing roughly apples to apples?
I love the idea of this, like most tech people will, but I also think the premium is going to kill them. At some point all the connectors and covers and the logistics are going to be tough to justify versus just a regular machine. Most people don’t upgrade their desktops, which are infinitely and easily upgradable, so doing so on a mobile device is going to be a tough sell (since there always be a price premium). It’s a noble idea that on the surface sounds awesome, but I think these guys will have a hard time. For example, it’s silly to have to “upgrade” your laptop with a couple of extra ports when for literally just pennies, the OEM laptop maker could just add them to all their laptops. Mass production is incredible at driving costs down.
I wish them luck, but I think beyond a base of hardcore nerds, average users will never understand this product.
Framork’s prices are totally reasonable and competitive today. And then if you factor in the savings of not replacing perfectly good parts just because you want to upgrade the processor or replace the battery, you end up saving a lot of money.
Right to repair, minimizing e-waste, and servicability are not exclusive traits of “hardcore nerds”.
The number of average people who would be willing to upgrade anything on their computers is tiny. Again, I personally am all for these devices, but as I mentioned even on a desktop PC, where upgradability has been cheap and easy as hell since essentially the beginning, few regular folks do it. Tech people are going to think this company and it’s products are a slam dunk, but I think in the regular marketplace they will see a lot of people scratching their heads asking “now why would I want to do that?”.
One of the things that I like about this is that I have a pretty reasonable desktop with lots of m.2 storage. I’d like to move everything to a laptop and this allows me to buy one without storage and just stick in what I already have.
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This seems really cool. I’m not in the market for a laptop right now but I’ll be looking at this when I am.
Framework seems to be a pretty awesome company. So happy to see them delivering on their word.
I wish they had more options for discrete GPUs at this stage, but it sounds like there should be more on the way
I wonder if there will ever be Nvidia or Intel options.
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It takes a lot of time because of how they design them
I’m a long-time Mac user but I’m very excited about this laptop. I’ve been interested in Framework for a while, but 13” screen was too small for me. This new 16” screen is perfect.
Did they ever fix the internal clock battery issue?
Yes they did. Starting with the 12th gen boards the RTC battery is optional. If you have one it will be topped up by the main battery, otherwise the main battery is used to keep the clock running. Source: https://frame.work/blog/whats-new-in-this-years-framework-laptop-13-part2
That’s great to hear!
What’s that issue?
There was an issue with the 11th gen mainboards (the first Framework laptop generation) that if the laptop was left unplugged for too long (like, weeks), the internal RTC battery would deplete and the system would become unbootable without resetting the mainboard. They fixed it in the next generation, though.
Yiiikes.
Thanks for the reply!
I’m actually upset that there is a laptop with this much modularity and there are no god damn physical mouse buttons in sight. Good lord. Fake buttons suck.
In the article it mentioned that Framework isn’t against third party mods like a swappable battery where the gpu slot goes. With this in mind, I’m sure there will be third party options with different mouse pads that actually have buttons.
Unless there physically isn’t enough space.
It actually would be nice if we could replace that entire trackpad plate with something more useful, for people who use a mouse 100% of the time. Imagine like a programmable macropad or something.
I guess I might as well hijack the thread and ask: are there any good options left for proper buttons besides Thinkpads?
Not even ThinkPads. I can’t find any aside from HP ZBooks. I don’t care about HP, and they are very large and heavy. Plus, they’re very expensive. Think $6k for something reasonably high-end.
I haven’t researched laptop prices in ages so I’m not sure what things go for these days. They mention in the article that this laptop will be expensive, but I didn’t get a feel for how expensive. What’s the premium for a laptop like this when comparing roughly apples to apples?
I love the idea of this, like most tech people will, but I also think the premium is going to kill them. At some point all the connectors and covers and the logistics are going to be tough to justify versus just a regular machine. Most people don’t upgrade their desktops, which are infinitely and easily upgradable, so doing so on a mobile device is going to be a tough sell (since there always be a price premium). It’s a noble idea that on the surface sounds awesome, but I think these guys will have a hard time. For example, it’s silly to have to “upgrade” your laptop with a couple of extra ports when for literally just pennies, the OEM laptop maker could just add them to all their laptops. Mass production is incredible at driving costs down.
I wish them luck, but I think beyond a base of hardcore nerds, average users will never understand this product.
Framork’s prices are totally reasonable and competitive today. And then if you factor in the savings of not replacing perfectly good parts just because you want to upgrade the processor or replace the battery, you end up saving a lot of money.
Right to repair, minimizing e-waste, and servicability are not exclusive traits of “hardcore nerds”.
And upgrading the motherboard (CPU) you can still keep the old one for mini pc if you have a monitor
Thats cool
The number of average people who would be willing to upgrade anything on their computers is tiny. Again, I personally am all for these devices, but as I mentioned even on a desktop PC, where upgradability has been cheap and easy as hell since essentially the beginning, few regular folks do it. Tech people are going to think this company and it’s products are a slam dunk, but I think in the regular marketplace they will see a lot of people scratching their heads asking “now why would I want to do that?”.
One of the things that I like about this is that I have a pretty reasonable desktop with lots of m.2 storage. I’d like to move everything to a laptop and this allows me to buy one without storage and just stick in what I already have.
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