- 18 months ago, I made the unprecedented decision
to invest in a fledgling laptop company called Framework.
They promised upgradeability, they promised sustainability,
they were gonna change the industry,
and all they asked for was a small loan
of a quarter million dollars.
I was so impressed with my first hands-on experience,
though, that I not only bought a laptop for myself
for the first time in 16 years,
I also invested my money in their company.
But looking at what they're announcing today,
it's clear that I made a fundamental mistake.
(suspenseful music)
I should've bought more of their company.
We have got AMD Frameworks.
We've got larger Frameworks
with even more customization and upgradeability.
And if your mind isn't blown yet, dedicated GPU module.
Is this a gaming Framework?
The best part is we've barely scratched the surface,
so we are gonna sink our teeth into these
and go as deep as we're, well, allowed to go,
given that I'm being carefully supervised, just to be clear.
I can open this up all the way?
(Windows error dings) - No.
- I can tell them what chips are in the-
(Windows error chimes)
Can I at least tell them about our sponsor?
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- he AMD edition of the Framework laptop
is a thing of beauty.
It comes in the same elegant
and upgradable 13-inch chassis as before,
but inside beats a heart of pure, undiluted Ryzen 7000.
A Team Red CPU option has been, off and on,
the most requested feature for Framework
to offer on their machines,
trading places only with a larger battery,
so they did that too.
They've gone from 55 watt hours to 61 watt hours.
But if you own a previous generation Framework, like me,
and you worry about incompatibility, fear not.
The size is actually identical, and the bump in capacity
comes purely from chemistry improvements.
That's really good news.
But wait. There's more.
The same 13-inch chassis that I've been using,
not to mention upgrading ever since I got it at launch
is getting even more options.
Intel 13th-gen Core processors are also being announced
for both brand new builds
and for folks who want to reuse their existing systems.
So if you're on previous-gen hardware,
you're gonna have to make a hard choice.
Do you go Intel, or do you go AMD?
Which actually leads me, which one's better?
- It's a personal preference.
- Right, but okay, how do I ask this again?
Which one should I get?
- Whatever you like.
- Which one will you get?
- Whatever I like. (chuckles)
- Oh, this guy clearly doesn't wanna make
either Intel or AMD mad.
They've also been addressing some of the pain points
that have been discovered
now that thousands of Frameworks are out in the wild.
I'm talking upgraded, stiffer hinges, louder speakers,
not to mention, oh, see that?
Now you don't, a matte screen option!
Aah!
Are we getting a touchscreen too?
- That I can't comment on,
but we will not have it in this release.
(Linus sniffles)
- Okay, I'll wait.
One thing you don't need to wait for
is our new 3D down jacket.
It's lightweight, warm, and only from lttstore.com.
"Now, hold on," you might say.
"I thought Framework's whole shtick is sustainability."
Well, that old board you pulled out is still good.
What, do we scrap it now?
Ah, I'm so glad you asked.
We showed off a cool 3D-printed case last year
that you could set up for yourself
to turn it into a little slimline computer.
But for the folks without access to a 3D printer,
there's a new better solution.
Framework has teamed up with Cooler Master
to offer a motherboard case, also known as a case,
by the way, in case you guys were confused,
meaning that your old board
can effectively become your new media center.
Now, enough about that.
Let's get to the really exciting part.
Look at this!
Look how much bigger it is!
And bigger is just the start.
There's only so much that I can say
about the all-new 16-inch Framework laptop at the moment.
But there is nothing stopping me
from demonstrating its biggest party trick,
a removable dedicated GPU.
While the MXM form factor
has died more deaths than Kenny McCormick,
Framework developed their own solution,
an easily swappable expansion bay
that is wired up with a custom PCIe x8 interface.
Fun fact, by the way, it actually uses the same connector
as Dell developed like back, what,
a couple years ago, I guess it was.
But since Dell isn't Framework
and didn't publish their pinout,
Framework had to develop their own pinout,
which, this time around, will be published
to allow board partners or, realistically, anyone to use it.
Is that right?
- Yeah, absolutely.
- If another laptop manufacturer said, you know,
"Hey, we really like this thing. We're gonna have a thing."
Ah, don't you love this attitude?
I can't tell you who they partnered with to build this,
and they won't even let me take the cooler off it
to take a look.
I don't even know if it's AMD or Nvidia at this point.
But what I do know is that with all the data sheets
that they're creating, an AIB like an ASUS or an MSI
could easily develop something for it.
Now, a GPU in a Framework laptop is pretty high up there
on my personal wishlist
because that power turns these things
into something that's actually a viable option
for us to deploy to our team.
A writer might be fine with a 13-inch.
But engineers and editors, come on, they need a GPU.
And the best part, it's not just for GPUs.
The idea for the expansion bay here is identical
to their I/O modules that they have
on the regular Framework laptop,
open source and completely customizable.
This space here, where a GPU might sit, could be anything,
a pair of M.2 SSDs,
an AI accelerator, even an extended battery.
(chuckles) That's right.
Removable batteries are back, y'all!
And there are even plans to offer an external caddy
so that you can use their old batteries,
like the internal ones, as portable battery packs.
And you don't even have to be limited
by the exact shape of one particular expansion module.
In fact, if you look closely,
these two are slightly different
because a GPU needs a little bit more space
than, say, a couple of M.2 SSDs.
So if you're willing to accept the compromise
of adding a little bit of extra, you know,
Z-height to the back of your laptop, I mean,
you could see conceivably just about anything
thrown in here.
Let's say you wanted to swap out your GPU
for something like a capture card.
Part of the spec is external-facing I/O.
And then, oh, this raises an uncomfortable question,
again with the e-waste.
What do we do with this GPU, like, slap it in a desktop?
Well, yes, actually.
Nothing would prevent the development
of a simple carrier card,
the same sort of thing we've actually seen
for MXM GPUs in the past.
But also, no.
Gets even better.
In the future, Framework wants to give you the option
of taking this and putting it in an external GPU dock,
which they have already mocked up
and are gonna be showing off very soon,
so that a friend or someone could use your old GPU
with their laptop.
One of the things that Framework learned
in the development of this product
is just how divisive num pads are on laptops.
Personally, I don't care for them.
I'd rather have these LEDs on the side.
As it turns out, nearly 50% of you do want them,
whether it's for data entry
or just extra keys for gaming inputs.
Fortunately, this is Framework.
David, I'm about to blow your mind.
Check this out.
I popped these out right here and here.
Slide these off.
These modules-
- [David] Shut up.
- No, no, no. No, no.
These modules, replaceable, okay?
So we can put in woodgrain accents
or something like that, okay?
If you want, like, carbon fiber,
they've got all kinds of different ideas for this.
But wait, but wait. It gets even dumber.
Check this out.
Track pad comes off.
Keyboard.
Oh, oh, oh! - [David] No.
- Wait! Num pad on the right!
Wait, wait!
Num pad on the left!
- [David] Shut up. - Oh, wait.
Oh, but I hate it when my track pad isn't centered,
and my... (gasps)
Oh no! Shut up, it's right under the keyboard!
Are you kidding me right now?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
This is wild.
You know those niche keyboards that you've seen,
with a second screen or whatever?
- [David] Oh yeah.
- Well, Framework has been paying attention.
That's right.
If a num pad doesn't offer quite the functionality
that you wanna see, how about a power-sipping memory LCD?
That might be more your thing.
Now, this one might never see the light of day.
I mean, they'd like to cram a touchscreen in here,
or you know, different types of display technologies.
But that is a lot to pack into something of this height
while retaining durability.
But at least you know that it's something
that's on their radar.
The best part is that this modular input system doesn't end
at just being able to move the keyboard back and forth
and stick on a num pad.
In addition to all the same languages
that they already support on the 13-inch Framework,
there's four more languages that they're adding
to 13-inch that will also come to this down the road.
And Linux users, rejoice.
On the 16-inch, they're even gonna build a keyboard option
that replaces the Windows key with a Super key.
I guess the Windows logo is that offensive.
Yeah, I don't know how many of those you're gonna sell.
- We're gonna see.
- So while in theory, you could put a 13-inch board
inside the 16-inch chassis,
it would be a total Frankenstein job,
and it wouldn't make a ton of sense
since you wouldn't even be able to hook up
some of the new I/O.
Oh, wait, did I even mention the new I/O?
Because of the larger size, there are six packs now
of their hot-swappable I/O modules, instead of just four.
They've also got a new retention clip down here
that's, I don't like the red.
I like green for okay to remove.
- [Nirav] It's a hard UX problem.
- Yeah, they like red for not the default state, right?
So I'm like, "Eh, yeah, okay.
I guess I get it."
Oh, wait! We didn't even talk about the new module!
They did remove the 3 1/2-inch jack from the 16-inch laptop.
But they developed a 3.5-millimeter module!
So you can have as many 3 1/2-mill jacks as you want.
Could I configure these for, like,
surround sound or something?
- You could, theoretically.
- Wow.
Wow! (giggling)
So you get more ports on your laptop for everyday use.
And it also means that the community who supports Framework,
either by buying these things or by building modules,
are gonna be having a field day with all the new ideas
that are gonna come to light.
And that community is only getting bigger and better.
You guys might have noticed that Framework's web shop
is called the Framework Marketplace.
That's because it's gonna be expanding
to allow third-party manufacturers to sell directly
to consumers, as well as offering a space
for consumers to sell and trade used components
with each other.
And for that, I owe everyone involved a massive
and sincere thank you.
A modular laptop like this is such an important mission.
And it only works if everyone agrees it's time
to move beyond disposable electronics
and focus on repair and sustainability.
And Framework has committed to that in more ways than one
from things like choosing to use cast magnesium alloy
for their shell instead of machining it.
I actually saw this thing,
realized there's not a single screw on the bottom,
which is cool, right?
But that means that there would've been pounds
of wasted magnesium alloy from a traditional CNC routing job
to remove all that material.
No, it's cast. That's freaking awesome.
They're also using paper-based packaging
and post-consumer recycled materials wherever possible.
Those of you who have been paying close attention
probably noticed that we weren't allowed to spill the beans
on the exact hardware in this thing.
But come on, I'd hate to totally spoil the surprises
when it comes out later this year,
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If you guys enjoyed this video,
maybe check out the last time I updated, ooh, where is it,
my Framework from 11th gen to 12th gen.
I went from, what was it, like, 8 cores to 14
or something stupid like that?
Same chassis, and now I could put 13th gen in it or AMD!
And if I broke it doing this,
I could replace all those pieces!
Look, he's not even stressed!
- You could, yeah.
- No problem!
Speaking of which, I need to replace my fingerprint sensor.
- [Nirav] Yeah, I can see-
- [Linus] I mangled the keyboard.
- [Nirav] Yeah, what happened here?
- Yeah, well, I was not being careful when I did something,
and so it's deformed.
So when I put it on, it cracked my fingerprint sensor, so...
- We can send you some parts. (chuckles)
- Yeah, but, well, we'll figure it out.