I hope that sooner than later the framework will release a new framework 16 chassis because to be frank the current one has unacceptable flex (I need to tighten the mid plate every few months because of it) and at least for me, extensive paint flaking. A fully CNCed aluminum one would solve both of them.
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I bet it will happen after another generation or two of the framework 16 main board. I would rather see a desktop case for the 16 board.
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What in the world are you on about? The 16 chassis is ALREADY mostly CNC. And you can’t CNC some parts of it no matter how much you want. You may not fully understand what that process entails.
Anyway, I don’t have unacceptable flex in mine, so yours might be damaged in some way.
These posts always remind me of a coworker who once came to me because his iphone wasn’t working properly. Upon examining it I noticed it was slightly bent. He then complained to me Apple must be too cheap to design a proper phone that can withstand it living in your back pants pocket while you sit on it all day.
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Build quality on the Framework 16 has definitely been a gripe of mine. I just ordered the gen 2 lid to hopefully help with the flex there a little bit, and plan on ordering the one piece trackpad when that comes out as well. I think there’s only so much they can do rigidity wise. If you strip your framework 16 down to the point where you take the mainboard out of it, there are a LOT of holes in it. Necessary for the modularity, but also definitely contributes to any flex or squeaks you might get.
I think the one piece trackpad is going to resolve my biggest quality complaint currently. Outside of that, I think the speakers leave a lot to be desired. Battery life when not gaming could be improved as well I think, and even with the gen 2 webcam upgrade, it’s still kinda disappointing
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Did you read the blog you linked? Framework literally says in the blog post that the bottom cover is molded magnesium with minimal CNC for refining small details, not CNC aluminum. The only part of the chassis that is CNC aluminum is the top cover.
The point is that the bottom cover, which gives most of the rigidity, is magnesium, which is more flexible than aluminum. I’m only requesting this because the new Framework 13 Pro will have a fully CNC aluminum chassis, and I believe the Framework 16 would benefit from this because the build quality of the framework 16 leaves a lot to be desired. But even with its flaws, I love framework’s mission and their deep respect for their community, and I hope they would consider looking into the possibility of updating the bottom cover like they did for the Framework 13.
I’m not a machinist, so your comment suggesting that it would be impossible to make the bottom cover with CNC aluminum may be true, but looking at the complexity of Apple’s MacBook Pros makes me think it could be done.
yeah I’m exited for the one piece trackpad too, really looking forward to the haptic touchpad
IIRC when the FL16 was first introduced there was a video where Nirav explained why the bottom cover was cast, a significant portion of the reason was saving in material because of the amount that would need to be milled away, but there were also portions of it would have been difficult to machine correctly.
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You could definitely CNC an aluminum bottom cover but it would be much heavier. For comparison, the size of the 16 inch M5 MBP is 85% of the size the FW16, but it is 2% heavier. And Apple has probably invested a lot in getting it that light
I expect that the magnesium alloy has to be molded
That said, I find the bottom to be fairly rigid… There are a couple posts like this on the forum and another said they can lift only one corner while the other three stay on a desk, but I can’t reproduce that at all…
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