Hi, i’m planning to buy a framework 12 for gaming, will there be any dedicated gpu in the future? Like the 2050 mobile 45w? maybe 12th gen i5 cpu?. Also, is there a pre built version for this ?(like without it being as repairable as other framework laptops) Cause if it was easy to dismantle, it would have some latency right?
Hi there! Framework do not share their roadmap or release plans publicly before official announcements, so your guess is as good as anyone else’s here on the community forum - there isn’t going to be any information straight from them before something is actually announced and released.
But if I had to make an educated guess: the 12 is their “cheap and cheerful” casual laptop - inexpensive, small and very modestly specified compared to the rest of their lineup. So as far as product segmentation goes, if anything, I’d expect the 13 to get a DGPU option down the line, if even that - I’d guess 12 will keep on receiving the somewhat lower end of the available CPUs and no DGPUs as upgrades.
On top of that, a separate GPU would be a thermal nightmare in a small chassis like this, even if they could fit that on a motherboard. Even the current gen 12’s i3 CPU alone makes the computer hot and noisy when you start pushing it, so I don’t think there’s much room to add any kind of separate GPU thermals wise.
Also, repairability and upgradeability is in Framework brand’s very core, so I wouldn’t expect them to start offering pre-built options that are anything much more “fixed” than a DIY configuration already preassembled and preinstalled with an OS.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my 12, and I do play indie games with it too. But I really wouldn’t recommend one primarily as a gaming laptop. And I wouldn’t personally expect it to ever get a DGPU upgrade down the line - at least not before several more CPU/GPU iterations if the manufacturers still manage to get power efficiency to a whole new level eventually.
I’m not gonna lie, this is the first time a Framework suggestion made me laugh out loud.
It’s not a bad idea and I would love to somehow see it happen, but I just don’t think it’s practical due to the low power budget of this device and the fact that a dGPU would easily add on $200-300 of extra cost lol.
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