Love this laptop, but battery life is definitely lacking, especially compared to other modern and non-modular laptops. In my opinion, an optional thicker chassis and bigger battery should 100% be prioritized over things like Ryzen mainboards. I’d much rather use a Ryzen CPU, but I’d much rather get 8+ hours of battery life instead of my usual 3-4.
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If thickness isn’t an issue for some (it isn’t for me, I used to use 1-inch thick Thinkpads back in the day), then one could expand upon that and consider the option of a ruggedized Framework, that perhaps uses cylindrical lithium ion cells like you see in electric cars. I wonder if Framework is missing out on a lucrative market. Police departments and military spend $thousands for each rugged laptop, often from Panasonic or whoever. A ruggedized Framework could have space for much larger batteries and dare I say, a mechanical keyboard. Maybe someone who owns a 3D printer could make a prototype?
This laptop is is perfect size… Its been 20 years I have laptops. Now formfactors are pretty all set…
Wait for next node next year and you ll get your 8 hours. Or wait for a 15" woth more room
I’m personally very happy with the battery life. I’m a part time teacher and my laptop easily lasts for the ~4.5 hours I’m teaching, usually with ~20% of the battery left at the end of the day. I’m not doing a ton on my laptop while I’m teaching, usually just referencing worksheets, but my laptop is open with the screen on basically the whole time.
I would not have bought the Framework if it was any thicker. I wanted a laptop that was relatively small and portable, so size and weight were big considerations for me.
Similar to what Abe_Linkn suggested, I wonder if Framework might be able to offer two different chassis and battery sizes at some point in the future when the company is a little bigger. It would be pretty cool if there was a model where the chassis was maybe twice, with more slots for ports (possibly stacked two on top of each other), and a much bigger battery. I could see that being a good option for someone who is looking to use the Framework for more technically intensive pursuits.
In the meantime, a laptop power bank might be a good workaround.