If the new pro input cover is compatible, is it compatible on it’s own? Or do would I also need to buy a new bottom cover kit, battery, etc?
Basically, I want a haptic touchpad and a super key without a windows logo. I’m otherwise fine with my machine as it is. I don’t want to buy a bunch of other parts if I don’t have to.
I did some searching on this topic but didn’t find anything. If I missed a big discussion elsewhere, my apologies.
The only caveat is that keyboards and touchpads are not compatible with other input covers than they are bundled with, so you need the entire input cover kit with haptic touchpad and keyboard. You can’t upgrade just the keyboard, or just the touchpad, or just the input cover frame. (probably most people upgrading will want the whole kit anyway…)
I think Ars is confused, because you can upgrade just the input deck, but you can’t upgrade just the bottom cover and battery. Those parts actually need the new input deck. So they are correct that
You can’t just put the new battery into an existing Framework Laptop 13
but they are wrong to say
you can’t use the new input cover with the old battery and bottom cover
(according to the documentation; I haven’t actually been able to test this…)
Is the opposite also true? use the new bottom chassis for slightly higher rigidity, but keep the old input cover, keyboard and touchpad because mechanical clicks
IIRC the 74Wh battery is the defining factor, new battery = new bottom cover and new top cover with new keyboard. Because the old keyboard collides with the larger battery and it won’t fit the old bottom chassis either. If you leave the old battery untouched you can choose what to upgrade.