During the Next Level event on Thursday, Framework’s CEO Nirav Patel also put out a blog post about their upcoming iteration of their Framework 13 laptop.
With the news of not only 13th Gen Intel Mainboards, but community requested AMD alternatives—with team red’s recently announced Ryzen 7040 series. This means that the community gets something everyone can get on-board with, a choice.
Patel also introduced user experience improvements to the hardware of the Framework 13:
The new Battery - 61Wh is the same form factor as the original battery, and achieves 11% greater capacity through advancements in lithium ion chemistry. We’ve kept our focus on longevity too, with 80% capacity typically available after 1,000 cycles of use.
We’ve also refined the display; the Display Kit - Matte maintains the same resolution, color gamut, contrast, and brightness of the original display, but with a matte top layer that lets you work better in a wide range of lighting conditions. The new Hinge Kit (2nd Gen) - 3.5kg increases screen stability with a force profile that’s easy to open with one hand and keep secure at your desired angle.
As someone ready to pull the trigger on a new laptop, my only concerns with the Framework 13 before this week were the battery life, glossy display and wobbly hinges. So, to see not only that these are being addressed, but that if there are some other usability issues that may dampen my experience, there’s now a chance of them being addressed. With these announcements, Framework is bringing something that is rarely, if ever, seen in the portable form-factor—confidence in a purchasing decision.
Reviews and user comments over the past couple of years, whilst mentioning fair criticism of the laptop, have seemingly always followed up with a line or an update about how “this is now fixed”, or has been improved with a new component, without the need of an entirely new device. Meaning that buyers remorse is almost stripped away, with the ability to repair and upgrade your laptop, just as you would a custom desktop computer.
I’ve long promised myself that when it comes time to upgrade my Lenovo L380, it will be with one of Framework’s offerings. And that plan has only been strengthened over the past 2 years, as the support for old and new components inside of these devices has continued to impress me. I am going to wait until I see the AMD offering out in the wild, and compared to the Intel model. But it’s more than likely that this will also end up replacing my desktop too—even though the i5 6600k inside is doing the job better than I ever expected.
I’m normally quite the skeptic on company promises, especially in the tech world. But, you can probably guess by now that these new announcements are making me feel quite excited about the company’s future. I just hope Thursday’s other much bigger reveal of the Framework 16, a gaming/workstation laptop, doesn’t rock the boat too much.