Remember when technology was easy to repair? Things like popping out and replacing the battery on your phone were as simple as removing the back cover, or changing out the RAM on your laptop didn’t include hunting down 13 invisible screws hidden under rubber feet that will never stick the same.
Well, that’s what the team at Framework are hoping to bring back, with their fully modular, fully upgradeable, fully repairable laptops.
While they have a variety of products to customise and upgrade, the two that caught my eye for this week’s Tech Tuesday are the Laptop 13 and the Laptop 16.
These devices are modular laptops that give you access to all the internal components with a single (included in the box) tool.
With this access, you can completely customise the way you build your own laptop, from colour to components and how they are positioned.
Add RGB or LED pixel displays to the side of your keyboard, or swap it out for an extra numpad. Shift your trackpad left or right to fit your needs, and change up the colour of the shell to show off your personality. All of it is achievable with the Framework laptop.
However, customisation is only the beginning.
Because all of the internals are modular, you can also upgrade your laptop at your own pace. Now, I know most higher-end laptops give you access to RAM and storage slots, which allow you to do the same, but on the Framework, you have access to even more. Batteries, screens, keyboard, and even GPUs can be swapped out for better components when you feel the need to upgrade. And all the parts are made and sold by Framework, so you don’t need to spend hours searching for a part or hoping the only generic third-party option you found will work.
This modularity also means you can quickly swap out broken components for new ones if something fails.
It’s a pretty neat system that has me Googling even further.
Another great benefit of the Framework is its huge community, which creates repair and upgrade guides and shows off what they’ve done with their laptops.
It feels like a bunch of nerds got together to make a cool thing and did exactly that.
It’s not all pretty-in-pink, though. These modular laptops do come with a heavier cost to them, and you can only upgrade them with parts from Framework themselves (except for the easy stuff like RAM, of course), so you can’t just go and buy the latest 5090 GPU and slap it into the shell.
The Laptop 16 starts off at a cost of around $1,200, while the Laptop 13 starts at around $750.This price quickly shoots up as you add more customisation options, like $300 for an AMD 7700, or $50 for an LED Matrix side bar for your keyboard.
Also, the company currently only ships to addresses in the US, so another workaround and import costs need to be considered here, too.
According to a few reviews, the laptops themselves don’t seem to keep up with other high-end laptops at a similar price point. So most general users might find it easier to just pick up whatever out-of-the-box laptop they can find.
But if you’re a tinkerer, someone who enjoys playing around with their gadgets, then I can’t see a more dreamy laptop than the Framework.
What do you think of this modular design? Is it something you’d be keen on picking up, or are you more comfortable letting the nerds deal with the repairs? Let us know in the comments.
