Is, or will there be, room for an ultra-low-profile mechanical full-size keyboard and a Sensel touchpad?

Framework Laptop
#1

I love the idea of the Framework laptop and want to support the company. I have read a lot in this forum and have already seen posts of others highlighting community desired features that I also want, including a Framework laptop with a bigger screen and a dedicated GPU. There are two ideas that I do not recall seeing and want to raise in case Framework is working on a bigger laptop with a thicker chassis. One is the option for a keyboard that uses ultra-low-profile Cherry MX keys and a full-size number pad (which is useful for the Blender 3D program). Especially as someone who has suffered from somewhat weak joints, I love the feel of a mechanical keyboard and how much easier it is on my fingers compared to a membrane keyboard. I know of only a small number of laptops on the market featuring mechanical keys. Those are Schenker’s XMG NEO 17 laptop(s?), and Alienware m15 R4 and m17 R4 laptops. I think those all use ultra low profile Cherry MX keys. Is there room in the chassis of the current Framework laptop to have an option for a keyboard with these ultra low profile mechanical keys? Yes or no, if Framework is working on a larger laptop, please consider building in enough head room inside the chassis for swapping out the regular keyboard for a keyboard with ultra low profile keys (if the height of these keys would require the keyboard to sit lower than the normal one). Although I confess that I have not used such keys, if they are sufficiently similar to my regular mechanical keyboard, they would make the writing experience on the laptop much better.

Besides that, a promising new touchpad technology is the Sensel touchpad, as seen in the Linus Tech Tips video ‘Face It, Apple. You Lost. - Sensel Force Haptic Touchpad’. (Link Face it, Apple. You lost. - Sensel Force Haptic Touchpad - YouTube ) Is there any possibility that this could be incorporated as an install option for the present or any future Framework laptop? I love the Apple 1st generation standalone trackpad, and having something comparable or better on a non-Apple laptop would be great.

1 Like
#2

Greetings.

As of now, the answer would be no. The Framework laptop’s keyboard has a height of 3.8 mm, from the top of the key cap to the bottom of the back light circuit.
The ultra-low profile Cherry MX switch is 3.5 mm tall. Assuming a 0.3 mm key cap is even possible, the keyboard will still require to have a PCB to form the keyboard matrix. All this would bring it very close to, or even exceed 5 mm height, which would be past the limit of the current chassis.

Might be possible in a bigger model though.

On a side note, while I daily drive mechanical keyboard, the FW’s current keyboard feels quite good to use.

1 Like
#3

Awwww, that stinks about the height, though my hopes were not too high for the current model. Here’s to hoping that Framework comes out with a bigger laptop with space for such an ultra-low-profile keys keyboard. Thank you, Dosssman! (And thank you for the comment about the feel of the current keyboard!)

1 Like
#4

Please see this: a whole keyboard with casing, not that it will fit in the Framework chassis :slight_smile:

  • Ultra-thin design: with an overall height of 3.5 mm, MX Ultra Low Profile is currently the thinnest mechanical key switch on the market, specifically designed for laptops
3 Likes
Just a notification of a 13" Tablet & notebook