Two years in the past, the final time Framework had an occasion in San Francisco, California, the spotlight was the Framework Laptop computer 16 — a laptop computer promising the “holy grail” of upgradable graphics playing cards, and easily one of the most ambitious laptops ever made.
However at present, the Framework Laptop computer 16 acquired little point out at its new occasion, which centered on the new, similarly gamer-oriented Framework Desktop as a substitute. Whereas the Desktop and Framework’s unique 13-inch laptop computer each acquired the newest AMD processors at present, we don’t but know if or when the Framework Laptop computer 16 may leap ahead too.
The one point out of Framework’s flagship laptop computer was a brand new “One Key Module” that may experimentally be obtainable for the Framework group to construct their very own electromechanical keyboards, ought to they select to, that may be skinny sufficient to slot in the Laptop computer 16’s extraordinarily skinny Enter Module bay. (You’ll be able to see how the Enter Modules work in my video here.)
I tracked down Framework CEO Nirav Patel on the occasion at present, and he wouldn’t say a lot, however he was clear on one factor: “We’re nowhere close to accomplished with Framework Laptop computer 16.”
I pushed my luck, asking: Is at present the day he can guarantee us that the Laptop computer 16 will ultimately see at the very least one GPU improve or snap-on secondary battery?
“Right now will not be that day,” he advised me.
I wish to see Framework succeed, and maybe it’s too early to start to marvel in any other case — it was nonetheless delivery preordered batches of the Laptop computer 16 to consumers by the center of final yr.
Framework has resisted our pushes to date, stopping wanting confirming it in our 2023 story: here’s his exact language at the time. It’d be good if Framework might guarantee consumers that the upgrades are completely coming. However personally, there’s more than a few things about that laptop computer I’d like to alter, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Framework was doing a little bit of a rethink even when it does ship.