Got a DIY project that requires more horsepower than the Arduino can provide? The creators of Framework laptops designed them to be very easy to upgrade and modify, eventually selling the laptop’s motherboard as a self-contained single-board computer that only needed memory and power.
The downside of devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops getting thinner and thinner is the manufacturing tricks and tradeoffs required to shave off millimeters of thickness. The original MacBook Air was amazing as Steve Jobs pulled it out of the manila envelope in its initial presentation, but the ultra-slim laptop novelty quickly faded away for users looking to upgrade. To achieve this thinness, components such as RAM are permanently soldered to the laptop’s motherboard, making repairs difficult and expensive.
The creators of the Framework laptops took a completely different approach, prioritizing customizability and making the machine easy to hack using the screwdriver-crowbar tool that actually came with it. Adding and removing features is as easy as popping and inserting various expansion packs, and the frame’s motherboard is designed to be easily swapped out to accommodate new processors. Part of the design that makes this possible is that the motherboard is essentially a standalone PC, which, as the company promised last year, could eventually be sold separately.
Three versions of Framework motherboards are now available, all with Intel 11th Gen processors: Intel Core i5-1135G7 for $399, Intel Core i7-1165G7 for $549, and Intel Core i7-1185G7 for $799. Again, you’ll need to provide memory and storage, but you’re welcome to cram the board into any DIY project you can imagine.
Framework even released a GitHub repository that includes detailed documentation on the motherboard as well as 3D models, allowing users to create VESA mounting brackets for attaching the motherboard to the back of a screen or to a small stand-alone case, using a 3D printer.
