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When it comes to improving the sustainability of consumer electronics, there’s a growing movement to design devices with a focus on upgradability and repairability that can extend their longevity, instead of just making them easier to recycle after a few years of use.
At one time, nearly every laptop maker was caught up in a race to create ultrathin designs, resulting in hardware that was difficult to upgrade and expensive to repair. But in recent years, several companies have demonstrated that laptops can be designed so that users can upgrade and easily swap out parts as needed.
Innovative companies like Framework have been producing laptops that don’t need to be entirely replaced every few years, and with more success than other companies previously following similar pursuits. In 2021, Dell was sued over its Alienware laptop that promised GPU upgrades, while Intel has abandoned a couple of modular hardware products, including its Compute Cards.
For now, it’s primarily Framework leading the charge, but its success has inspired competitors like Lenovo to follow suit. As more companies dedicate R&D to the cause, Framework may one day no longer be the only brand associated with modular devices.
You can stay on top of all the latest upgradable and easily repairable device news and developments right here.
Please bring back swappable laptop batteries.
This is the new Dynabook Portégé Z40L-N, and it’s not quite what I’m asking for — while it does unusually have its own dedicated compartment, this 56Wh battery is more user-serviceable than swappable. Some other laptops offer that too. But what if you could carry a second battery with you, charge it outside of the laptop (maybe integrated USB-C), then toollessly swap at a moment’s notice?
Or are external batteries just better for that now?
Mint and pink: a closer look at the backflipping Framework Laptop 12
The moment Vjeran and I got to the demo room at Framework’s San Francisco event, we knew right away — the mint and pink version of the Framework Laptop 12 was the one I wanted to touch, the one he wanted to photograph and film.
One of the women standing next to the demo stations thanked us for saying that out loud, because she wasn’t initially sure mint and pink would make the cut! She introduced herself as Esther Yen, the senior industrial designer of this entire laptop — and says they were the colors she had asked for.
Here’s Framework’s first touchscreen laptop.
Can Framework fix budget laptops next? That’s the goal, and Framework CEO Nirav Patel says he’ll be dogfooding it himself, making this 12-inch laptop his daily driver for the foreseeable future. He wouldn’t tell me just how budget it’ll go yet.
Framework Desktop hands-on: a possible new direction for gaming desktops
Framework’s mission is to “fix consumer electronics, one category at a time” by making them modular, repairable, and upgradable. It’s the only laptop maker to ever truly succeed at that “upgradable” part. But desktop PCs are already modular, so why is Framework making one?
At first, I thought it saw a unique opportunity to make a cute yet badass tiny gaming PC with AMD’s unusual Strix Halo processor and decided to shoot its shot. As you’ll read below, I’m excited by the result. But I also have another idea I’ll share with you afterward.
‘We’re nowhere near done with Framework Laptop 16’ says Framework CEO
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Two years ago, the last time Framework had an event in San Francisco, California, the highlight was the Framework Laptop 16 — a laptop promising the “holy grail” of upgradable graphics cards, and easily one of the most ambitious laptops ever made.
But today, the Framework Laptop 16 got little mention at its new event, which focused on the new, similarly gamer-oriented Framework Desktop instead. While the Desktop and Framework’s original 13-inch laptop both got the latest AMD processors today, we don’t yet know if or when the Framework Laptop 16 might leap forward too.
Framework wants to fix the budget laptop with its first touchscreen machine
Framework, the modular repairable computer company, says budget laptops generally suck — and it plans to fix that this year. Today, it’s previewing a computer called the Framework Laptop 12 that’ll be its smallest laptop yet, its first with a touchscreen, its first with a 2-in-1 convertible hinge, and its first with a rubber-esque shock absorbing TPU outer edge to make it more suitable for kids and students, too.
“We build products to fix what we see as a broken industry, and few categories are as emblematic of the problems with consumer electronics as entry-level laptops,” writes Framework CEO Nirav Patel, continuing:
The Framework Laptop 13 has just been upgraded to AMD’s Strix Point
Image: Framework
Framework has done it again — it’s built a new AMD-powered modular computer that fits into any previous version of its 13-inch laptop for $449, or that you can buy as a brand-new laptop starting at $899 for DIY or $1,099 entirely prebuilt for you. We briefly checked it out today at Framework’s event in San Francisco, alongside the just-announced tiny Framework Desktop and the new budget touchscreen convertible Framework Laptop 12.
This 13-inch machine is the company’s second with AMD processors, this time featuring the new-ish Ryzen AI 300 “Strix Point” chips in Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7, all the way up to the Ryzen 9 HX 370 with 12 CPU cores, half-decent portable gaming chops and 50 TOPS of AI performance. And yes, that makes this Framework’s first Copilot Plus PC.
Framework says its laptops shouldn’t get stung by Trump tariffs but modules might cost more.
CEO Nirav Patel tells The Verge:
“Because we manufacture Framework Laptops and Mainboards in Taiwan, we have limited impact from the additional recently introduced tariffs. Some of our modules are manufactured in China, so we are taking this into account for future module pricing for US customers in the Framework Marketplace as we also continue to diversify our supply base.”
Framework will reveal new gadgets on February 25th — can you decipher its glyphs?
Image: Framework
Framework’s open source RISC-V laptop mainboard is now available.
It’s powered by a StarFive JH7110 SoC processor instead of chips from Intel or AMD, but it’s not recommended for most consumers. It’s targeted at developers and early adopters not focused on performance.
Intel still dreams of modular PCs — it brought a tablet laptop gaming handheld to CES
Photo by Sean Hollister/ The Verge
Dell’s new USB-C ports use screws instead of solder so you can fix them yourself.
Dell just killed off XPS, but its new “Pro” laptops pull a neat trick: most USB-C ports and batteries are now officially user-replaceable.
“This is the first time that we’ve had a screwed-on, non-soldered modular USB-C port,” Dell PM Katie Green tells us. She says Dell also plans to bring this to consumers “when it makes sense.” No word on Framework-like modularity yet.
1/3The new modular USB-C port. Images: Dell
The Framework Laptop 16 just got a modular gadget that enables quadruple SSDs
The most ambitious laptop ever made just got a long-promised modular upgrade. Starting today, you can pay $39 to add two extra M.2 slots to the Framework Laptop 16 — letting you potentially carry around an AI accelerator, an eGPU adapter, or a grand total of four solid state storage sticks for ludicrous capacity.
As Framework’s blog post points out, the new “Dual M.2 Adapter”
is Framework’s first new modular component since launch that takes advantage of the Laptop 16’s big expansion bay around back. At launch, you only had two options: a Radeon RX 7700S discrete graphics card for extra money, or a mostly empty bay that only contained fans.
You can now accessorize your Framework laptop with Lego.
If you’re a Framework laptop user with access to a 3D printer you’ve now got an important question to ask yourself. Do you prioritize being able to accessorize your machine with Lego using this 3D-printed adapter with studs and tubes that fits into the Framework’s expansion card port? Or is adding another USB-C or HDMI port a higher priority? Decisions, decisions...
Framework Laptop 16, six months later
My original Framework Laptop 16 review unit, next to its replacement.
In January, I spent two weeks with the most modular notebook ever made: the Framework Laptop 16. It’s a gadget nerd’s dream: you can swap out its keyboard, touchpad, ports — even its entire discrete GPU. You can transform it from a sleek work laptop to a decent gaming machine in two minutes flat, one which charges with the world’s first 180W USB-C power adapter.
But at the time, I gave the Framework Laptop 16 a 5 out of 10. The product gave me multiple Blue Screens of Death, glitched, felt flimsy in places, and ran hotter and louder than its performance would suggest.
The Framework Laptop 13 is about to become one of the world’s first RISC-V laptops
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Framework now lets you upgrade its Laptop 13 with a drop-in 120Hz screen, better webcam, and Core Ultra chip
Image: Framework
Compression-mounted laptop RAM is fast, efficient, and upgradeable
The first laptop with LPCAMM2 memory is finally here. The folks at iFixit got their hands on the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 (Gen 7), which uses LPDDR5X memory in an LPCAMM2 module that you can upgrade or replace by simply unscrewing from the laptop’s motherboard.
That’s a major change from existing LPDDR memory in most modern laptops. This type of memory is typically soldered onto the motherboard, making it much more difficult to upgrade. LPCAMM2 — or Low-Power Compression-Attached Memory Module — offers modularity without losing the power efficiency of LPDDR.
Framework won’t be just a laptop company anymore
Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge
Today, Framework is the modular repairable laptop company. Tomorrow, it wants to be a consumer electronics company, period. That’s one of the biggest reasons it just raised another $18 million in funding — it wants to expand beyond the laptop into “additional product categories.”
Framework CEO Nirav Patel tells me that has always been the plan. The company originally had other viable ideas beyond laptops, too. “We chose to take on the notebook space first,” he says, partly because Framework knew it could bootstrap its ambitions by catering to the PC builders and tinkerers and Linux enthusiasts left behind by big OEMs — and partly because it wanted to go big or go home.
The Framework Laptop has a firmware update problem — but maybe not for long?
I didn’t realize it’d failed to deliver so many updates ‘til I read this Ars Technica story. The good news: hardware partner Compal now has a whole firmware team ready to go:
The goal, Patel says, is to continuously cycle through all of Framework’s actively supported laptops, updating each of them one at a time before looping back around and starting the process over again. Functionality-breaking problems and security fixes will take precedence, while additional features and user requests will be lower-priority.
Framework is selling a cheap modular laptop
Framework is now selling a $499 version of its modular 2021 Laptop 13, a “barebones configuration” equipped with an 11th-generation Intel i7-1165G7 CPU (Intel is now on its 14th generation for mobile processors). The company says this is a first for its affordable “B-stock Factory Seconds” machines that use leftover parts and ship without memory or storage included. So it’s cheap, but you’ll need to provide a couple of parts on your own.
Framework writes in its announcement that it’s also selling refurbished DDR4 RAM for half what it would cost new “to reduce the all-in price.” The base B-stock Laptop 13 configuration is one step up from the version that Monica Chin said in her Verge review was “uniquely friendly to user upgrades,” but notably lacked available screen or GPU upgrades.
Framework will send us another Framework Laptop 16 — and here’s what it will fix.
We told Framework we had several different stability issues, so I was a little frustrated to see the company’s CEO suggest I only encountered one... but I’m happy to say Framework will send The Verge a final production unit with quite a list of hardware and software fixes!
The DPC_Watchdog_Violation freeze, at least, does seem to be fixed in my testing with a newer BIOS.
Framework Laptop 16 review: two weeks with the ultimate modular laptop
The Framework Laptop 16 is the most ambitious notebook I’ve ever touched. There’s never been anything like it before. There’s so much to cover that it won’t fit in this review, so I’m hosting an AMA today on The Verge to answer your burning questions.
Never has a computer company made a laptop so user-repairable, so customizable, so… modular. Never have I owned a laptop that’s a workhorse by day, physically transforms into a competent gaming PC by night, then morphs into an RGB-LED-studded five-screen DJ controller when the mood strikes. Never have I swapped out a laptop’s entire butt for a bigger one containing a discrete graphics card, then powered the whole rig with a world’s first 180-watt USB-C PD power supply. And never have I been able to lift out a laptop’s keyboard and touchpad, shift them to the left or right, then add a numpad, or a matrix of dazzling LEDs, or a simple pop of color alongside.
AMA: I reviewed the Framework Laptop 16, ask me anything at 12PM ET!
I am unreasonably excited about the ridiculously modular Framework Laptop 16. I did loads of testing that didn’t quite fit into my review, so... I’ll answer your burning questions at 12PM ET and throughout the day, and you can begin adding ‘em now! Hit that comments button and you’ll see our Q&A module.
Don’t be shy: I’ve got this machine right here and am happy to quickly test and measure things for you.
Framework Laptop 13 (AMD) review: buy this one — if you can
The competition between Intel and AMD is a tale as old as time. And here, in the unobtrusive and unsuspecting Framework Laptop 13, that competition comes to a head. Because, for the first time, this modular 13-inch machine allows you to fully swap an Intel processor with an AMD processor (or, I do suppose, vice versa). It’ll cost you as little as $449 (the price of a Ryzen 5 mainboard) and half an hour of your time.
It’s great that an AMD Framework exists, both for folks who already own an Intel version but want to upgrade and for those who are shopping for the first time and will benefit from more choice. It’s also great for me personally because it creates a controlled experiment. It allows me to put two competing chips side by side in a literally identical chassis and test them out. There’s not even a price differential: the two systems are the same price, with prebuilts starting at $1,049 and DIY kits at $849 in both cases.
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