Does it makes sense to anyone else that the upcoming 12" laptop would open the door to swap in the touch display on the 13" laptops?
Obviously, it wouldn’t be a 1-to-1 switch, but changing the hinge assembly and probably making the display case assembly thicker, doesn’t strike me as being too unrealistic physically/technologically, or even too logistically convoluted. The only other potential drawbacks I can think of would be widening the side bezels, and the camera position if the laptop was tented. This could also create real estate for accessories like the keyswitch modules teased during the showcase, or more relevantly; a magnetic stylus dock along one of the sides. From what I’ve seen here on the forums, I’m not alone in wanting something like this.
Full transparency, I don’t know nearly enough of the engineering or coding that this would require. At least for anything beyond aesthetic design and physical/digital enclosure modeling. I’m a student with some relevant fabrication skills and, unfortunately, zero software/firmware background. That being said, feel free to either indulge my imagination, or burst my bubble at your discretion.
Mechanically, I think it would have be two separate physical modifications. The first one being the hinge assembly, for the 360 degree bending and communication between the touch display and the mainboard. The second one would be the actual display assembly itself, plausibly keeping the top cover, while removing and replacing the previous display and bezel.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Too far fetched, or do you think it’s feasible? If I missed some aspect that’s glaring to you, I’d love to know and learn a bit about it from you.
I’d think two big problems are the cooling system. It feeds in through the bottom and exhausts heat at the hinge area (mostly on the left side). Folding it backward would cover the intake and possibly the exhaust. I’d think they would have to drastically rework the ventilation system to make that work unless it somehow swings around and folds over the keyboard instead (a pivot, I guess? Would add mechanical complexity and potential points of failure…).
anything is possible with a dremel, but it just isn’t worth it. You’d end up sacrificing two expansion cards, the display may not have a compatible connector, the keyboard has a different pinout and so does the battery, (maybe the FL13 battery could be used if you removed the spacers) and you’d have to cut an intake into the bottom
Given the requirements for additional glass and rigidity, introducing an adapter doesn’t sound impossible in a thicker display. Again, I’m definitely under educated here, so what would be the issue(s) with adapting 40 pins to 30?
So does operating the current lid closed which does kind of work at somewhat reduced performance. Most theoretical 360 hinges that come to my mind would probably even make the cooling situation better in most orientations.
It’s not adapting 30 to 40 pin per se, there are abundant adapters for that, the problem is having a custom cable made that adapts from the fw 13 laptop side pinout to the 30 pin pinout with the touch pins and stuff connected.
As @Adrian_Joachim pointed out, I completely forgot that the FWL12 not using 40 pins creates a situation that an adapter can’t fix. While the FWL13 has touchscreen pins on the motherboard-side, those do not run through its cable, because that cable is for a non-touchscreen.
Motherboard-side display ports just don’t seem to have standard pinouts. And since FW doesn’t sell a 13" touchscreen, they also don’t have a touchscreen cable available. Add in the fact that having custom cables made is really expensive and that display cable wires are too difficult to solder for most, and we have no good solution.
I butchered a spare connector and tbh diy doesn’t seem impossible. We probably could add wires to a original cable with a connector for touch on the other end. We probably could also order custom cables somewhere.
i can’t find a ready made panel with touch in 2:3 13.5", nor a sole touchscreen. If we find one, or someone to small batch make some (alibaba, etc), we could then glue it on like diyperks did Building a large iPhone replica
To make it fold over I guess we’d have to at least redesign the top lid to house a second hinge point like the 12" has, with the lid being so thin i don’t see that happening but then there’s people way better in cad than I. Metal 3d printing services exist afaik, manufacture will probably become less of a problem by the day.
What cable and connector is that? I can’t quite tell what the wires are in your picture. I believe each individual wire in eDP cables are micro coax, a fine shield over a tiny core. Sure some people can solder those, but it does not look easy or fun, and I think for many it would just be impossible.
I would think of it like this. If someone had a standard, Toyota Camry and wanted it to be a rear wheel drive convertible, it would probably be possible to convert it. It would take an absolute boatload of planning and custom work. There would probably be a lot of trial and error along the way. It might be a fun project to plan and execute, and it would probably be satisfying when finished. But would it have been “worth it?” Not a chance, in terms of pure cost and time spent. However, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be worth doing for someone. It would just be a matter of the worth they find in the project itself.
You would have to source some 360 hinges and then modify the top and bottom cases to make them attach and function. They you’d mostly likely also have to modify the bezel and even the input cover to make it all work. Then you have to pick a display and make it fit. Then you’ll likely have to custom make/order a display cable with the right connectors/pinout, and the right length and thickness to be able to route properly to work with the 360 hinges.
They are also on the newer boards, I think that connector has stayed consistent over all of them.
This looks like an old lvds setup which were a lot simpler. The edp ones use some fancy micro coax stuff that is close to impossible to hand solder to.
There are places you can order tailor made cables but it is somewhat expensive.
If there was a fitting oled panel I’d be all over that but so far I have not found one.
With it being smaller i see how that may not be fun. i still assume we can custom order those when we get past the other roadblocks like hinges and sourcing a touch panel.
if you were to remachine the bottom/and or housing of the 12 out of aluminum, you could solder heatpipes to the bottom of the chassis in specific locations to interface with the bottom of the heatsink and ptm to use the entire bottom of the laptop as a heatsink. Additionally, the top part of the input cover could be cut out to allow air intake as well as other holes in the chassis could be added to allow air to get in. Additionally, the FL12 already has no intake on the bottom so it must be getting it from somewhere else.
), at least on my 11th gen intel board.
