Longer-lasting laptops: the modular hardware you can upgrade and repair yourself

In January, I spent two weeks with the most modular notebook ever made: the Framework Laptop 16. It’s a gadget nerd’s dream: you can swap out its keyboard, touchpad, ports — even its entire discrete GPU. You can transform it from a sleek work laptop to a decent gaming machine in two minutes flat, one which charges with the world’s first 180W USB-C power adapter.

But at the time, I gave the Framework Laptop 16 a 5 out of 10. The product gave me multiple Blue Screens of Death, glitched, felt flimsy in places, and ran hotter and louder than its performance would suggest. 

What if your laptop didn’t need a processor from an established brand like Intel or AMD? What if it didn’t even rely on proprietary paid architectures like Arm and x86? RISC-V is one of the answers to those questions — it’s free for anyone to use! — and modular computer company Framework has just decided to welcome RISC-V into its laptop lineup.

Specifically, Framework has partnered with DeepComputing, the company behind the very first RISC-V laptops, to build a mainboard for the Framework Laptop 13 as well. Framework already sells Intel and AMD mainboards that easily slot into its 13-inch chassis, and DeepComputing has now independently designed a new one you could drop into Framework’s laptop or even this $39 Cooler Master case that turns those boards into mini-desktops.

I know, I absolutely stuffed this story’s headline — but I’m just so excited to see the future of modular computing unfolding before my eyes. Framework, the company that actually delivered on the promise of an upgradable laptop, has apparently done it yet again.

Not only is it now taking preorders for yet another generation of swappable mainboards to give you Intel Core Ultra chips, but the company has also developed a $39 webcam to improve the originals’ middling image quality and a $269 drop-in display that replaces your 60Hz, 2256 x 1504 screen with a brighter, higher-res, variable refresh rate 120Hz 2880 x 1920 panel at 256ppi that should make everything smoother and crisper.

The first laptop with LPCAMM2 memory is finally here. The folks at iFixit got their hands on the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 (Gen 7), which uses LPDDR5X memory in an LPCAMM2 module that you can upgrade or replace by simply unscrewing from the laptop’s motherboard.

That’s a major change from existing LPDDR memory in most modern laptops. This type of memory is typically soldered onto the motherboard, making it much more difficult to upgrade. LPCAMM2 — or Low-Power Compression-Attached Memory Module — offers modularity without losing the power efficiency of LPDDR.

Today, Framework is the modular repairable laptop company. Tomorrow, it wants to be a consumer electronics company, period. That’s one of the biggest reasons it just raised another $18 million in funding — it wants to expand beyond the laptop into “additional product categories.”

Framework CEO Nirav Patel tells me that has always been the plan. The company originally had other viable ideas beyond laptops, too. “We chose to take on the notebook space first,” he says, partly because Framework knew it could bootstrap its ambitions by catering to the PC builders and tinkerers and Linux enthusiasts left behind by big OEMs — and partly because it wanted to go big or go home.

Framework is now selling a $499 version of its modular 2021 Laptop 13, a “barebones configuration” equipped with an 11th-generation Intel i7-1165G7 CPU (Intel is now on its 14th generation for mobile processors). The company says this is a first for its affordable “B-stock Factory Seconds” machines that use leftover parts and ship without memory or storage included. So it’s cheap, but you’ll need to provide a couple of parts on your own.

Framework writes in its announcement that it’s also selling refurbished DDR4 RAM for half what it would cost new “to reduce the all-in price.” The base B-stock Laptop 13 configuration is one step up from the version that Monica Chin said in her Verge review was “uniquely friendly to user upgrades,” but notably lacked available screen or GPU upgrades.

The Framework Laptop 16 is the most ambitious notebook I’ve ever touched. There’s never been anything like it before. There’s so much to cover that it won’t fit in this review, so I’m hosting an AMA today on The Verge to answer your burning questions.

Never has a computer company made a laptop so user-repairable, so customizable, so… modular. Never have I owned a laptop that’s a workhorse by day, physically transforms into a competent gaming PC by night, then morphs into an RGB-LED-studded five-screen DJ controller when the mood strikes. Never have I swapped out a laptop’s entire butt for a bigger one containing a discrete graphics card, then powered the whole rig with a world’s first 180-watt USB-C PD power supply. And never have I been able to lift out a laptop’s keyboard and touchpad, shift them to the left or right, then add a numpad, or a matrix of dazzling LEDs, or a simple pop of color alongside. 

The competition between Intel and AMD is a tale as old as time. And here, in the unobtrusive and unsuspecting Framework Laptop 13, that competition comes to a head. Because, for the first time, this modular 13-inch machine allows you to fully swap an Intel processor with an AMD processor (or, I do suppose, vice versa). It’ll cost you as little as $449 (the price of a Ryzen 5 mainboard) and half an hour of your time.

It’s great that an AMD Framework exists, both for folks who already own an Intel version but want to upgrade and for those who are shopping for the first time and will benefit from more choice. It’s also great for me personally because it creates a controlled experiment. It allows me to put two competing chips side by side in a literally identical chassis and test them out. There’s not even a price differential: the two systems are the same price, with prebuilts starting at $1,049 and DIY kits at $849 in both cases.

At first, Lenovo only seemed casually jealous of Framework’s modular repairable laptops — first, it sent a cease-and-desist over a Framework power button, then it unveiled its own modular concept laptop dubbed Project Aurora with no promise to actually build such a thing.

But it looks like the ThinkPad and Motorola owner might actually be serious about ramping up repairability. “More than 80 percent of our devices will be able to be repaired at the customer,” Lenovo executive Luca Rossi told the Canalys EMEA Forum 2023, according to The Register.

You can hot-swap a DisplayPort, ethernet, even an extra 3.5mm audio jack into your modular Framework laptop — and today, the company is finally beginning work on a full-size SD Expansion Card to go with them.

But seriously, it’s just beginning that work: the company says it’s breaking tradition by “pre-announcing” a module that may never ship. “We’ve set a target for what we want it to be, but as we proceed and learn, there’s a chance it could change or even be canceled,” Framework writes. Don’t worry: it’s not trying to cash in ahead of time; the idea is by doing it this way, Framework can take you behind the scenes.

In 2021, Dell got sued — because one year after hyping up an Alienware laptop that supposedly let you upgrade its discrete GPU, the company didn’t follow through.

The story of the Alienware Area-51m is pretty dang relevant today because Framework just opened preorders for another laptop that offers the same.

Intel announced earlier this week that its compact and upgradable NUC computers were being discontinued, but now Asus is stepping in to manufacture and develop future NUC systems instead. While Intel won’t be making its cute small form factor PCs anymore, Asus will receive a non-exclusive license to Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) product designs.

“As we pivot our strategy to enable ecosystem partners to continue NUC systems product innovation and growth, our priority is to ensure a smooth transition for our customers and partners,” says Sam Gao, general manager of Intel Client Platform Solutions. “I am looking forward to ASUS continuing to deliver exceptional products and supporting our NUC systems customers.”

Framework CEO Nirav Patel describes it in biblical terms: “So many have tried to capture this holy grail and died along the way.” It’s a very dramatic way to say that his new Laptop 16 lets you replace and eventually upgrade the entire GPU.

But as I shove an AMD Radeon RX 7700S graphics card into the back of his computer and fire up Elden Ring, I have to admit it rings true. I have wanted this for 20 years — and I genuinely wonder if Framework will be the exception to that “died along the way” rule.

Intel’s NUC computers are super compact, upgradable, and even powerful — but now, they’re being discontinued. ServeTheHome first reported that Intel is giving up on the personal computer business and will no longer be making its cute small form factor PCs.

In an email to The Verge, Intel’s EMEA comms manager of client computing and graphics, Mark Walton, confirmed the news and issued the following statement:

Framework has released a 2023 version of its 13-inch modular laptop. And folks, it is exactly the same as the 2022 model.

Okay, so, I mean, that’s not quite true. There is an AMD option now, but I don’t yet have that one to review. I’ve been testing the pre-built Intel model, which includes a 13th Gen Core i7-1360P. The battery is also larger, coming in at 61Wh. There are a couple other small things about the chassis. There’s a new matte display option and a new speaker system. But I am going to tell you right now that using the 2023 Framework Laptop 13 feels exactly like using the 2022 Framework Laptop. The experiences are basically identical.

Framework has announced the 2023 edition of its modular 13-inch laptop. The big news is that not only is there a 13th-Gen Intel configuration for sale, but there’s also an AMD Ryzen 7040 option available. That’s right. Finally, an AMD option.

One of the difficulties I had in reviewing last year’s Framework Laptop was that the Intel processor didn’t quite measure up to everything else that was great about the device. I’m obsessed with the Framework as a concept — what’s not to love about a repairable, fully upgradable notebook? — but as a daily driver, it was a bit unremarkable, and battery life was particularly disappointing.

It’s not often that I get too excited about new laptops these days. Modern laptops are extremely capable devices, with few glaring flaws. They are thin, light, and finely tuned to get the job done. Exciting, they are not.

But Framework’s laptops are exciting. Under the banner of repairability and sustainability, Framework is making computers that seem to be exactly what enthusiasts have been asking for — for literal decades. Nearly every part of a Framework Laptop can be repaired, replaced, or upgraded by its owner. Want a faster CPU or more RAM? Just swap the board and click in some more RAM sticks, and you’re off to the races. The company is even coming out with a gaming-focused laptop that promises the ability to upgrade its GPU down the line. 

I may have changed my mind about buying a Framework Laptop 13 this year, but I’m not done being excited about the company’s products. Heck, I’m more enthusiastic than ever — because it looks like Framework is seriously planning to let us snap a second removable battery into a laptop.

One week ago today, the modular laptop company announced a 16-inch notebook that promises to let you swap out its entire butt for one that fits a discrete graphics chip, extra fans, or a pair of SSDs — and / or swap out the Framework Laptop 16’s entire keyboard deck to add, say, a numpad or fancy LEDs or virtual piano keys. It promised more details later this year.

“My old Dell XPS 15 has gotten sluggish. The battery dies easily. It’s heavy to cart around, anyhow. Now that I’m going out in public again, I need a new work machine.”

These were the thoughts circling my head at yesterday’s Framework event — where the company known for its easily-upgradable laptops announced new chips and a new, longer-lasting battery. “Battery life has consistently been the main negative for the Framework laptop,” said CEO Nirav Patel, hitting on the one reason I’d only ever admired the company’s laptops from a distance. This morning, without that one reason to hold back, it was time to put down a $100 deposit for my own Framework Laptop 13.

It’s been four years since Dell promised the Alienware Area-51m would be a truly upgradable gaming laptop — and nearly two years since the company got sued for utterly failing to deliver that dream.

Now, Framework, the sole company in modern memory* with an actual track record of delivering a fully upgradable laptop, is taking a stab at it, too.