What follows is a (hopefully) future press release regarding a launch of a repairable productivity laptop with a num pad. I am not affiliated with Framework; I just like their products and if this device came to market would have no problem switching my company’s laptop fleet from Dell.
Introducing the Framework 17
Building on the design of the Framework 13, this new model uses the same mainboard, battery, main keyboard, speakers, hinges, fingerprint reader, webcam, and I/O modules to save on R&D. With a slight tweak to the touchpad, we’re able to use the same module for the 13 and 17 going forward as well. So on the inside, it’s the same Framework 13 you’ve grown to love over the past 4 years.
The real change comes with the externals. The Framework 13 chassis is a wonderful design, so we took that and stretched it to accommodate a number pad (hence the slight redesign of the touchpad). Rather than recreate a single keyboard with an integrated num pad, the num pad makes use of the new connector on the touchpad.
The firmware on the touchpad will detect the presence or absence of the num pad and present the correct key mappings to the rest of the system.
Now stretching the chassis without stretching the screen would be ridiculous, so we sourced a new 17" 16:10 display to fill in the empty space. To make sure everything connects in the wider case, we added USB C extenders and lengthened the necessary ribbon cables.
Now why would we make this model when the Framework 16 already exists? Well, different people have different needs. Some people need a portable powerhouse with a customizable input deck and upgradeable discrete graphics. That’s the Framework 16. Some people just want a solid upgradeable laptop with a num pad. And that’s what we’re delivering with the Framework 17.
Available for pre-order as soon as Nirav sees this and has his team do some stretching in CAD .
Not really the sort of form factor I would be interested in myself, but I’d fight to the death for your right to achieve it!
I agree that there should be different cases and form factors offered for the electronic guts. As things stand we have the choice of Framework’s idealised, Apple style notebook or have Framework’s endorsement to use its innards in your homebrew cyberdeck creation. It would be nice to have a choice of bodyshells that exist in the space between these two extremes.
If let’s say framework made a monolithic input pad for the 16, so it has a keyboard, numpad and trackpad in 1 big panel similar to the 13 keyboard and numpad, would that suffice for input? It would be more rigid and also not add yet another product line that would stretch them even thinner (in terms of firmware support)
Oh another bonus for the expansion bay is it allows for real easy fan and heatsink fin cleaning without having to completely remove everything else.
It doesn’t change the fact that the 16 looks and performs like a gaming laptop. It’s still overkill for QuickBooks and spreadsheets, and a good deal heavier than I anticipate this being. Even the ability for the input deck to be removed toolless could cause issues. I have users regularly call me saying their webcam doesn’t work even after I showed them the physical slider that covers the camera. The thing I like about the 13 is that the input deck requires effort and a separate tool. No accidental removals.
I don’t see how this would stretch them thinner on the firmware support. I haven’t looked at the code yet, but the existing keyboard matrix has space for 128 keys (8 inputs by 16 outputs) of which 78 are populated. The num pad add-on could easily fit its 17 keys into that space. The only needed changes would be to add two more ZIF connectors to the touchpad (matrix and backlight), then add the mappings into the firmware. Mainboards in a 13 chassis could safely ignore the unused keycodes because they could never physically be input.
lol, I was typing out my justifications and it started to sound like a new product launch speech, so I leaned into it. I was really tired too, so I thought it was funny. Seems a bit pretentious now that I look back at it…
Exactly! Even if it wasn’t made by Framework, it’s cool that it could be made without additional licensing costs.
That said, it would be nice for a first-party option. Again, not knocking the Framework 16, I’m probably going to buy one as my daily use computer when my XPS 17 is out of warranty. But I know exactly what my bookkeeping team would say if I tried to hand them a 6 lbs. laptop that looks like something their gamer grandsons would think is cool…
Not even joking, I switched out a laptop for one of my users that was a slightly different shape but lighter, and they complained that it was too heavy.
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