And only getting a key button.
That would be cool if that was the cherry on top.
Unless they make some new expansion card or an upgrade for the framework 16 the most Iām going to buy is maybe some storage from framework, I bought the framework 16 for an upgradable experience as I havenāt had to repair it yet
Guys calm down. āDiscontinuedāā¦
That is just not true. Nirav assured everyone that the core business of Framework is mantaining upgradable laptops. There is no reason whatsoever Framework should ditch all the money invested in R&D for the FW16 and discontinue it.
Nirav said (literal quote @ ~ -25 minutes)
āwe are still only getting started on the FW16ā
āWe are of course many generations in the FW13 [ā¦] ā¦we are committed to delivering the same type of longevity and weāre excited for the long roadmap ahead for the Framework 16ā¦ā
In my humble opinion we as a communty should remind ourselves that this company represents a beacon of hope in the huge wasteland of electronic consumerism. The framework 16 is ONE YEAR OLD. If you upgrade a high performance laptop this often,just buy and resell the latest [insert brand]. Youāll never use the repairability this brand offers. Breathe, calm down, and listen before spreading misinformation.
Go Framework, /rant.
Yeah, itās completely unreasonable to expect them to upgrade the FW16 at this point given the offerings by AMD which required soldered memory, something that would be unacceptable on a FW16.
And more tired considering all us 16 owners liquid metal cooling has stopped working. Iām at the point my fans are always noisy because they are spinning even at near idle.
Crossposting from the event thread:
The new Laptop 12 is incredibly cool. And, if there were a new mainboard/dGPU for the Laptop 16, I would think that the desktop was very cool too. But Frameworkās messaging has always been that they are committed to continued support on each product they releaseāand especially continued upgrades for their laptopsāso as someone whoās been waiting for those promised upgrades to the two-generations-old Laptop 16, Iām honestly just hurt.
Releasing the Desktop while leaving the 16 line to rot makes it feel like Framework is choosing to prioritize selling to the AI developers over keeping their already-commited customers happy. If it were not for this, I think we would be seeing a much positive reception of the Desktopāitās hard to ignore the fact that the mini PC market has been split between cramming desktop hardware or integrating nonrepairable laptop hardware for years, and the Framework Desktop will bridge that gap in ways weāve never seen while enabling the hybrid memory approach of recent laptops to be used in running powerful and increasingly important AI modelsābut as it is, it carries the sting of betrayal. It feels like if Framework cared, theyād have announced something, at least a teaser and a date, about upgrades to the Laptop 16. Just my two cents.
Nobody in the community has been asking for more āAI.ā
The Framework Desktop is a cool, repairable thin client, but itās marketed as a full desktop PC. It seems to combine the weaknesses of both laptops (limited raw power, no upgradeable GPU) and desktops (no built-in screen or keyboard, large space requirement), making it feel like an upgraded version of the previously released MoBo case. The product page explicitly mentions business support, and overall, it feels more like a business-oriented product.
The Framework 12 is an exciting release. This is a product Iāve seen requested online numerous times. Iām a bit disappointed that it doesnāt support the Fw13 MainBoards, but overall, itās a great addition to the Framework lineup. I also really like the variety of color options.
The Framework 16, however, was largely overlooked. The only new customization options are only transparent I/Oāthere are no new bezel colors. That said, Iām pretty happy with its current CPU and GPU performance, as it still holds up well for productivity tasks (programming, office work) and light gaming (Vampire Survivors, Factorio, Minecraft, etc.), especially on the iGPU. One of the most discussed features before the event was OLED screens, which I would have loved, as Iām a big fan of dark mode and OLED is a game-changer for programming.
The speakers really need an overhaulāthey are abysmal in terms of sound quality, especially considering their ā¬20 price tag.
I disagreeā¦AI is truly the future of computing. If you havenāt discovered that yet, you are seriously behind. I have seen plenty of people in these forums asking for more AI in the next gen devices.
I can see it being NUC on crack/Mac Studio but for Windows. Most of us here right now are probably not in a market for that, but as much as I dislike much about it, to me it makes sense as a product. Having all the memory on tap for the GPU at a sufficient speed is huge for AI. Having the graphical capabilities of the desktop in a small silent computer is great for people who need what Mac Studio is serving, e.g. for video makers, editors, streamers. I remember Dave 2D making a video about how silent the Mac Studio is while transcoding four 4k streams live from multiple cameras. This could be the only other box apable of achieving thatā¦
I keep hearing that excuse but then the 13 has now 7 versions according to Linusās video. There was no real reason to give it an intel 12 to 13 upgrade. And if it was acceptable to create an upgrade for 13 from 7040 why not 16? And why no new gpu announcement? Not even a discount for what is about to be a last gen dgpu. This implies we can forget any intel or amd dgpu for another year at least. Then no word, even if just released as part of a blog post on the issues around 16ās cooling? We are still completely in the dark for when we can even expect that to happen. So no I think the fear that 16 is getting sidelined and will head towards being obsoleted is valid. They have to deal with that because if they donāt it will be self fufilling. Nobody is going to pay a premium for a repairable up-gradable laptop if thereās no sign itās being supported.
Me too
My FW16 is barely 1 year old. I most certainly donāt need an upgrade alreadyā¦
However, what got me excited was the key/switch module. I can finally make the ergo keyboard I have always wanted for this machine!
Because even if a custom QMK map has been a really nice thing so far, flashing a new map falls short of changing the physical layoutā¦
Yeah non upgradable RAM in the 16 would be a no go. I am fine waiting for motherboards for the 16. I was not planning on upgrading this year anyway. The think I am really disappointed about is the 13 inch being the only thing that gets transparent bezels.
As a FW16 owner, this event was⦠a bit disappointing. That said, it was still some interesting stuff.
FW Desktop - Personally, Iām a laptop guy. I donāt have any need for this. Still interesting, though.
FW12 - I know a lot of people have been looking for a FW 2in1, and they delivered! Not particularly crazy about the color options, but still interested. Could be a suitable replacement for my aging Surface Bookā¦
New colors - I love transparent shells⦠but am dismayed by there not being a blue one. And also a shame of no new FW16 bezels. +10 points to Nirav for referring to the purple as āAtomic Purpleā (however, the points are made up and donāt matter).
However, 2025 is still young. Thereās still plenty of time for FW16 news this year. I REALLY hope we at least get a better GPU, though.
And I would just advise people to not get too pessimistic about the FW16ās future. We already know that the demand for the FW16 exceeded their predictions (given the high number of pre-order queue groups). And from what WAS said about the FW16 during the event does suggest they have things in the works, but not yet ready to announce.
This makes no sense. Becoming Apple in what way? The machine has only been out for a year.
There has been support for FW16 though. Not very long ago they added the m.2 bay for the FW16. The FW13 has been around for many years longer than the FW16 and at around this time in itās lifecycle it had maybe 2 versions, the 11th and 12th gen Intel. It takes time to build an ecosystem. The 7 versions of FW13 are not all upgrades either, 11th gen Intel, 12th gen Intel, 13th gen Intel, Ryzen 7000, Intel Core 200 and now the new AMD AI whatever, the others are a Chromebook, and RISC-V, not something most users would want to āupgradeā to. The 13th gen Intel and Ryzen came out about the same time and the Core Ultra wasnāt a big upgrade either. There is a lot of choice with the FW13 but itās not a new best in class CPU every six months like people are pretending.
soldered ram. though it seems AMD forced that.
Itās a requirement for this generation of AMD CPU. They can either do soldered RAM and make fans angry or they can skip this generation and make fans angry.
I thought the soldered ram was just for stryx? The Desktop basically
Not saying it has to be best in class. Iām saying the 16 amd was announced before the 13amd. But the 13 is getting an upgrade again but the 16 gets. āit makes no sense toā. Thatās copium. Particularly when the portable, thin laptop has less justified need of horsepower or the new ryzen 9 than the big workhouse machine. The fact they couldnāt even bring themselves to say the new chips would come to the 16 later or tease a new gpu was worrying. Then to say we have plans for the 16 honest but we errm canāt even tease one so here beta test a new key switch for us. I just donāt think itās wrong to say framework are currently treating the 16 as the ugly cousin. Itās the marketing and appearance even more than the lack of anything. Like itās an afterthought. Now they have their announcements out the way we really need some attention being put on the cooling issue and then hopefully an announcement around mid year of upgrades coming before the end of 2025. I donāt think thatās unreasonable