In July 2022, our {hardware} massive boss Dave James checked out the modular, user-upgradeable Framework laptop computer, and declared (opens in new tab) “Framework exhibits what notebooks ought to be like, and now I desperately need it to make a gaming laptop computer.” After attending a Framework occasion in San Francisco right now, I’ve bought some excellent information for Dave—the second has arrived.
Framework introduced the Framework 16 on Thursday, bringing its modular design to a bigger system constructed to accommodate devoted GPUs. It is a 16-inch physique, with an “growth bay” system that’ll enable so that you can prolong out the again of the laptop computer previous the show to accommodate bigger graphics boards. Think about a laptop computer that is 12 or so inches deep, from touchpad to rear exhaust, when you had an RTX 4060 on board, whereas an even bigger, hotter RTX 4080 can be each thicker and prolong an inch additional in depth.
These GPU fashions are purely my hypotheticals at this level: Framework is not speaking about what precise CPUs or modular graphics playing cards can be out there for the Framework 16, which goes to begin delivery in “late 2023.” However we could know a bit extra earlier than lengthy, with pre-orders set to open up someday this spring.
As with Framework’s current laptops, you’ll swap out modules for the varieties of I/O you need: USB-C and HDMI ports, microSD slots, and many others. New for the Framework 16 are keyboard choices for an even bigger laptop computer physique, with an non-obligatory numpad. Framework had some cute choices on show for individuals who do not care concerning the numpad, together with some LED dot matrix shows enjoying Pong. You will additionally have the ability to simply slap in some flat panels in order for you a normal centered keyboard, however the Raspberry Pi microcontrollers used for these non-obligatory options can be user-programmable if you wish to get fancy.
Like a lot of Framework’s tech, the code is open supply: the corporate simply dropped its QMK keyboard firmware on Github (opens in new tab).
The one factor we all know concerning the Framework 16’s graphics chops is that the laptop computer will use a PCie Gen 4×8 interface, providing a max of 16GB/s in bandwidth. Assessments have proven that is ample bandwidth for even an RTX 4090 (opens in new tab) on desktop, so I believe it is honest to guess that any GPU you possibly can cram right into a Framework laptop computer now, and even three years from now, can be constrained by warmth dissipation or potential wattage lengthy earlier than working into any bandwidth limitations.
However will we ever really get an opportunity to fit a brand new GPU into the Framework 16 a number of years down the road? We have seen variations of this promise so many occasions over time, from desktop-replacement laptops with swappable components (opens in new tab) to Alienware’s supposedly GPU-upgradeable Space 51m (opens in new tab) to the MXM modules of the early 2010s (opens in new tab). None of those designs have caught. And exterior GPU enclosures, regardless of being round for a decade, have by no means taken off, both, even when massive names like Razer have taken a stab at it (opens in new tab).
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It looks as if somebody comes alongside each few years to say they’ve cracked it, however the trade-offs or prices have by no means made these choices extra interesting than a custom-built desktop or an ultralight laptop computer. Framework, a minimum of, has performed it good up thus far: somewhat than leaping proper into the extra advanced gaming laptop computer design, it began with the extra moveable Framework 13.
And Framework’s open sourcing of a lot of its designs is a minimum of a extra enthusiastic dedication to true customization than we have ever seen from different {hardware} firms tackling this concept. Perhaps we have lastly reached the purpose the place devoted GPUs and different laptop computer parts are compact sufficient to stay swappable throughout a number of {hardware} generations. We’ll see later this 12 months if Dave’s dream is genuinely coming true.
