When the Framework laptop came out, it had all the potential to be a great laptop and a serviceable, upgradeable laptop in the world. But – and there’s always a but – it only works if the ecosystem works. The framework needed to build the market around a laptop, so it can be bigger than one company’s feature idea and release cycle. More immediately, it needs to demonstrate that it’s invested in the idea itself, that Framework won’t just move on to newer and flashier stuff that’s off its upgrade path.
In terms of the larger ecosystem, Framework’s success remains to be determined. But its own intentions don’t seem to falter. This week, Framework announced that the motherboards for Framework laptops — including storage and memory slots, connectors for the Framework’s four expansion cards and four displays, and three different configurations of Intel’s 11th-generation processors — are now available It can be purchased separately through the Framework Marketplace. The cheapest version comes with the i5-1135G7 chip and costs $399. The most expensive, with the i7-1185G7 processor, is $799.
Framework also shares all the documentation and 3D printed designs needed to build your own case or device around the motherboard. You can really build just about anything: if you throw in some storage and power, the frame board quickly becomes a powerful computer, sort of like a beefed-up (and bigger) Raspberry Pi.
The frame’s motherboard comes with a design for building your own case.Image: Frame
The Framework’s market has continued to grow since the launch of laptops last year, and while it’s still mostly simple computer parts: lots of interchangeable ports, swappable memory, and different types of keyboards, there’s not much boldness in terms of devices new ideas. This makes sense, as Framework’s own focus has been more on upgrades and repairs. Framework’s main plan for motherboards seems to be to provide a way for people to reuse old motherboards after purchasing a new upgrade. (For example, when Framework wants to start offering 12th Gen Intel chips.)
But offering motherboards individually could also be a way to kickstart a different kind of ecosystem, where users and developers can build different kinds of computers starting from Framework’s templates. That said, please someone make a framework based cyberdeck and tell me where I can get one.
