Afaik (and I could be completely wrong) it can do one external display through the port on the graphics module directly and at least one display from each of the expansion card slots that support displays (two on the left and one on the right). That totals to 4 displays.
Although the displays connected through the expansion card slots are routed through the iGPU. That means that the graphics module is still doing most of the GPU work, however the GPU integrated into the CPU handles the final output to the display. Routing through the iGPU like this tends to have a slight performance penalty.
Another option is a dock with a DisplayLink chip. A DisplayLink chip is somewhat like a basic GPU, although all it’s capable of is the final outputting to the display. So when using a dock with a DisplayLink chip the graphics module still does most of the work but the DisplayLink chip does the final outputting to the display.
This allows docks with DisplayLink chips to overcome limitations on how many external displays a computer can support. The limited bandwidth between the DisplayLink chip and the computer means that there is a performance and quality penalty, however I’ve found that with a Dell D6000 dock (which has a DisplayLink chip connected to 2 of the 3 outputs, the 3rd output just connects to the iGPU) the quality and performance isn’t bad even with it running 4k 60 Hz displays on all outputs.
Edit: Framework states that, at least with 11th gen Intel processors, they support DisplayPort MST to allow multiple displays to work off a single DisplayPort or USB-C expansion card. (Source) Although afaik Framework hasn’t said anything about that with their other laptops.
MST is supported on pretty much anything that isn’t macos, though you are still limited to the maximum amount of displays the gpu supports, tends to be 3 or 4 for igpus and 4 for nvidia gpus and 6 or 4 for amd ones (looks like they switched to 4 with the 7000 series too which is kind of a bummer).
@Adrian_Joachim and @Kyle_Reis, thanks for the feedback. I pushed through an order with 2 display ports and an hdmi port. Hopefully those along with the display output from the gpu module can push the 4 monitors I have.
clicking on the AMD terms/conditions link on the order page leads to
"The Coupon Code must be redeemed no later than October 28, 2023, to obtain Application downloads after which the Coupon Code is void. "
and we don’t get the laptops the end of year …
or do we have a different procedure?
Cancelled mine, all you guys can move up the queue. Building a Formd T1 and buying a second hand laptop still saves a fair bit of cash. I will perhaps pick a framework 13 instead next year.