Hi everyone! Has anyone in the Framework community gotten a Laptop to use a 90+ wh battery in a default enclosure?
If so, could anyone please point me in their direction? My only problems with this next generation of Frameworks is the batteries being under 90wh, but everything else is perfect! Absolutely perfect, in all other ways!
Thank you,
Barrett
A 90Wh battery would have to be significantly larger than would fit in the 13" Framework enclosure. Somebody could theoretically design a custom bottom cover that is thicker to accommodate a larger battery, but I don’t think you’d get anything close to that in the default enclosure.
Framework just announced today a new 61Wh battery upgrade which will fit in the original case. That’s an 11% upgrade from the original 55Wh battery.
Ok, I understand that the batteries are a bit too big for the standard casing. Sorry for the confusion!
That said, has anyone “lightly” modified the 14” casing to fit a 90+ wh battery? If so, could someone please send me their way?
Thanks,
Barrett
The 61W battery is only available for the i7 or Rizen 7 processors. So basically you have to spend 310 more $ for a less energy-friendly, less cost-efficient processor you might not need to get the extra battery life… which you don’t get because of the higher processor.
Or you have to buy another battery and ditch the one they force in your i5 laptop.
Would a company that really care about the environment use such dark patterns?
You can turn the old battery into a battery bank, so it isn’t like you wouldn’t be able to use it. “Dark patterns” is a bit melodramatic isn’t it?
I’d like to put the 55/61wh on the marketplace if I successfully get the 90+ working.
That said, I really don’t want to use an 11th gen or higher Intel chip, and 10th gen isn’t performant enough for me. So for me, the “less cost-efficient” option for some is my only option.
These upcoming laptops check the rest of my boxes, so the battery is my only worry. Thanks!
This choice is a bit annoying, though they’ve pointed out a few times that they have trouble with the logistics of offering more configurability for complete systems.
However, one of their goals is to move thinking about laptops from devices that are replaced entirely, to devices that are upgraded and have components replaced over time. In that sense, they might hope that for many users, their choice of battery will be one they make when their old battery needs to be replaced, or when they upgrade their mainboard, not one they make when purchasing an entirely new machine; when purchasing individual components, the logistics seem to be easier.
@CGE Add in the fact that the new battery chemistry probably cost them a pretty penny vs the 55Whr and them deciding they want to hit a certain price point…well, cutting costs on the battery is a pretty painless way to do that and really not that evil.
Thanks! However, I can’t seem to find out if anyone has done a battery mod before. Does anyone happen to know?
@Barrett Not to my knowledge and I’ve been pretty active on the forums since 2021 and I’ve never seen any posts actually doing the mod, only requests such as yours.
I don’t mean to be rude here, but are you even serious about your request for such a huge battery? Sorry, but it just seems a bit unreasonable here. Are you even aware of what you are requesting here? There are no 13" Notebooks that carry such a big battery to my knowlege.
There is just not enough space and the primary focus of this Laptop is repairabilty and upgradeability, which naturally cost space in contrast to other glued and soldered notebooks.
Sometimes the best reasoning is…because I can/want to. I don’t think he was necessarily putting the onus on Framework to deliver. He did ask about mods after all. Who knows, maybe this guy will be the first to deliver. I wouldn’t complain about extra battery life. Bigger batteries are also more resistant to degradation just like SSDs, besides the obvious increase in capacity.
@Logian Yes, I’m completely serious! 
I’ve documented some other laptops that have some of what I want, but Framework’s Laptop is perfect with the exception of the battery. That said, the 80+ wh laptops are usually at least 14” so I see your worries!
I may end up getting a 16” and tweaking its power usage, but that bigger panel will lead to diminishing returns.
Thanks,
Barrett
Aren’t they soft batteries? Idk, I’d avoid making a giant flat battery bank that I have to rig together and hope I don’t burn the house down with.
Angry pixies are angry, don’t tempt them.
FW created/demoed a (I assume) rigid proof of concept (I really want this to be turned into a real product) to turn the old battery into a phone bank at their announcement yesterday.
Alright, learnt something new here and have to admit that there are in fact 3 notebooks from your blog comparable in size and with 90+Wh batteries, yes.
But still these seem to be the exception and I don’t think that a 90+Wh battery would be feasable in the default enclosure.
I belive what I’m trying to say here is that there are other qualities with this specific Laptop than reducing it to the battery.
But I don’t want to stop you from anything, in fact please prove me wrong here. One great thing about this community is that it encourages people to modify or improve the device!
On that point, this speculation based on the Framework 16 expansion bay pinout might suggest that either Framework is planning to have a battery expansion module, or that making one should be feasible.
Here is the real question…can I buy a battery for a different laptop and successfully transplant it into a Framework?
If the size is about the same… But I would image that they’re at least a little bigger in size. Thing about current battery technology is that there are limits in density, as far as i know. It could be also possible that these 90+Wh batteries are lasting longer for one cycle but cannot achive the same cycle count than the framework battery.
More than that, the connector would need to be the same and the controller/EC would need to support the battery too. Otherwise some cells might get charged/depleted more than others, inducing swelling/heat. Really it’s a pipe dream and I knew that when I commented.