The Framework Laptop is an upgradeable, customizable 13-inch notebook due out this spring

A San Francisco-based startup called Framework has just launched an ambitious project – a thin, lightweight productivity laptop that is claimed to be “upgradeable, customizable, and repairable in ways no other notebook can provide.”

Founder Nirav Patel said The edge that the company wants to address its longstanding frustrations with consumer technology companies. Patel was one of the original Oculus employees and has also worked for Apple. At the time, he said he saw “an industry that felt incredibly broken across the board.”

“As a consumer electronics company, your business model basically depends on producing steady tons of hardware and pushing it into channels, into the market, and into the hands of the consumer, then drop it a little bit and make it exist there , ”explains. “It encourages waste and inefficiency and ultimately environmental damage.”

To that end, Patel sees the Framework Laptop as more than a product – he sees it as an ecosystem.

The Framework comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 screen, a 1080p 60fps webcam, a 57 Wh battery and a 2.87 pound aluminum chassis. Inside, you get 11th Gen Intel processors, up to 64 GB DDR4 memory, and “4 TB or more” Gen4 NVMe storage.

As is the case with all types of consumer laptops, buyers can replace and upgrade various internal components of the Framework, including the RAM, battery, and storage. The company is trying to bring three additional benefits to the table. The first is that you can also customize and upgrade external components of the chassis, including the keyboard, screen, bezels (which are magnetically attached) and ports (via an expansion card system). If you are someone who hates dongles and docks, you can select four ports from an assortment of the usual suspects (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, microSD, etc.).

The second is that Framework will sell its own modules in a centralized online marketplace, which is also open to third-party sellers and resellers. The idea is that if your screen is cracking or you want to change your bezels, you can go to the Framework site to find replacements that are tailor-made for your laptop, rather than having to look around. Framework’s components are printed with QR codes that, when scanned, take you directly to a purchase page for their upgrades.

The third is that in addition to a pre-built Framework system, you can purchase a “do-it-yourself” kit of your selected parts, which you can then use to assemble the laptop yourself. The DIY edition offers some operating system flexibility: you can install “your favorite Linux distribution” on it or choose Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Image: Framework

It is certainly a compelling plan. But Framework won’t be able to achieve its upgradeable, sustainable future just by announcing an ecosystem – it actually needs to create an ecosystem that will last. And whether Framework will continue to produce modules for this particular laptop model well into the future, or whether external partners will accommodate the slack, is certainly a question mark.

If you are a PC enthusiast, you probably know that Framework is far from the first company to attempt such a scheme. Intel has given modular computers a chance in the past, with little result: the Compute Card was a commercial failure, and the modular Ghost Canyon NUC (which had hardware partners at launch) has yet to receive any new components. Alienware’s original Area-51m never received the promised future-proof upgradeable parts either. Phone manufacturers have also tried modular devices: Google’s Project Ara smartphone, composed of Lego-like bricks that users could rearrange and swap in and out, went nowhere. The reality is that hardware is difficult to build and modular hardware is even more challenging.

Image: Framework

Patel believes those OEMs weren’t committed enough. “Other companies, they brought it out, and someone internally decided, ‘Um, we’re going to focus on something else this year,’ and stop the project,” Patel says. “This is not something we are doing. It’s not a side project for us that anyone thought was interesting. This is the core of our business. “

“We are releasing new modules and upgrades and accessories and so on to improve the health of the ecosystem, and we will continue to do so for as long as customers want,” added Patel.

Framework will receive preorders this spring and the device is expected to ship this summer. The price has not yet been announced, although Patel says it will be “on par with other well-reviewed notebooks.”