Has Framework exited the Chromebook market, or is a refresh on the horizon? I noticed that their Chromebook is no longer available on the website. With HP recently exiting the high-end Chromebook space, I’m curious if Framework might be doing the same.
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Maybe related:
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We don’t currently have plans for a newer generation of Framework Laptop 13 Chromebook Edition : Converting a Chromebook Edition to a non-Chromebook Framework Laptop 13
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Will the current / initial Framework Chromebook be restocked?
I wonder if the decline has something to do with Chrome O/S Flex coming out which can run as a thumbdrive/USB boot. However the Flex does not support the Android Play store and maybe no Linux packages (not sure about the latter). I can get Flex to run on some of my Asus laptops but have not been able to get it to run on my FW 16 AMD laptop yet. I’m expecting my FW 13 Intel Ultra to ship soon and will test it on that and report.
I support Chrome O/S on Chromebooks and actually own about five of them (Google, ASUS, Lenovo brands). I can actually get enough Playstore compatible apps installed that I can substitute a Chromebook for my work laptop as far as using the company approved VPN and then RDP to a Windows jump server to do everything else. Can also install M$ Teams and Outlook to handle basic communication w/o remoting to a server if my phone is not handy or too small for bigger messages/e-mails.
I wish Chromebook were more popular and we were not seeing a decline in sales. It is a neat minimalist O/S design that really became more functional once they added Android PlayStore and Linux package support (Chrome browser add-ins just didn’t hack it).
Good luck!
Thanx,
Wio
Texas Citizen
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Seems like framework has completely abandoned chromebooks. If a customer had purchased a framework chromebook, relying on a promise of being able to upgrade this computer in the future, then that customer has been thrown under the bus after only a year or two.
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Jumping to conclusions here. How do you know that Google is not the one to blame here? Google’s Chromebooks have been a race to the bottom in terms of pricing. My guess is that Google just decided to kill it. That seems to be the only thing Google is actually consistence at when it comes to products.
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Whether it be due to Google or Framework Robin’s point seems fair, there has been no upgrade path for the Chromebooks.
If your mainboard dies can you even get a replacement anymore? When looking at mainboards, filtering for Chromebook compatibility, I only see the DeepComputing RISC-V Mainboard as an option.
If they have abandoned the Chromebook maybe we can use our red LED on the power button again 
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I want to blame Chrome Flex here. However Flex has it’s limitations against a full Chromebook. Flex is not able to use/load Android Play Store or Linux applets (I may be wrong about the Linux applets).
If I didn’t have four Chromebooks at home already I would have considered the Frame.Work Chromebook. Long live Chromebook. 
As I have said before, expensive high spec Chromebooks are a waste of money.
It’s like buying a Ferrari and then realising its 30mph speed limits everywhere.
The hardware will always be limited by the infrastructure of ChromeOS.
Even Google doesn’t bother making them anymore? I love a Chromebook but the reality is they are a cheap option for schoolkids to destroy or that cheap 11" you take on holiday to look up places to eat on.
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I recently experimented with ChromeOS Flex on an older Thinkpad and it works great. It’s a great Linux development box without the usual Linux desktop hassle (HiDPI screens just work, for example). But I would like a Chromebook with more RAM than 8 GB. Also running Android apps would have been great. Then I remembered that Framework had something, but unfortunately, it’s dead.
I do have a Framework 13 running Linux (NixOS) for work, but a private Framework 13 with touch screen, enough RAM and ChromeOS would have been great as well.
IIRC Framework stated at the release of the Chromebook version that they weren’t committing to making future Chromebook mainboards. I think it was listed in the configurator somewhere, but I forget the exact phrasing.