In the market for a new laptop - and the Framework 16 is top of my shortlist. I’ve been using your customization/configuration section to price up my proposed build… which has led me to two power-related suggestions.
First - multi-power options… I’m a UK-based potential customer who intends to travel regularly with my Framework - to both the US and across Europe. Would be really cool if I could order the cables/parts [or if absolutely necessary, entire power bricks] so that I won’t need a socket converter for my laptop when I travel. Not an option on the config system at the moment, but perhaps pretty simple to add?
Second - like many travelers, I do tend to take a variety of odds and ends with me when I travel, including e.g. smartphone, smartwatch, etc. Something that would be outrageously awesome - though I understand more expensive - would be a PSU able to support say 3-4 USB devices at the same time. Yes, if I wanted to, I could plug my phone in to a USB port on the side of my laptop while the laptop was also plugged in and charging… but this could easily end up pulling a lot of current through the laptop, which might not be a good idea. Leveraging the convenience of having a quality power brick able to add juice to 3-4 devices would be a really nice idea - and would cut down on clutter.
I was thinking of the multi-port power supply as well. If they made a power supply that had two 140W ports, then it could support a monster GPU with it’s own dedicated power supply. It could also come in handy when changing more than one device (when this theoretical GPU doesn’t need to run at full power).
Also, the wall outlet cable they supply is too short. I went on Amazon and got a 15 foot cable (which is overkill). If Framework gave us a short and long option for the wall outlet cable (short: 3ft, long: 6ft), that would be way more useful for more people.
Thanks Henry, that’s a brilliant addition to my primitive initial suggestion. Combining the power supply for the GPU Expansion card in to one [possibly larger, replacement] power brick would be awesome - and another “clutter reduction”…
Well, the power brick is a universal one, and the AC connector on it is a standard IEC connector, so you may already have an appropriate UK power cable in your possession. I did so I ordered mine with an EU power cable which I didn’t have. For a US power cable you can probably get the correct one from Farnell or RS.
You don’t need to buy the official adapter. I bought a UGreen power adapter with multiple ports, exactly so I could also charge my phone and other devices with the same power brick if needed. As long as it supports USBC-PD and has enough Wattage, it should be fine.
Glad you are considering the Framework Laptop 16. Like @Alan_Pearce said the 180W supply from Framework uses a standard IEC connector. You can get a power cable for whatever country you regularly travel to with the correct IEC connector on the end. In the US you can get them from Digikey, Mouser, etc. The power adapter from Framework (and almost everyone in the world) are multivoltage and multifrequency. I think 100V-240V and 50-60Hz.
With what you have described; my suggestion is to get the Framework 180W power adapter with your laptop. Then get an additional multiport adapter from a reputable source like Anker.
There is no one adapter that will magically do the extreme power output that the Framework Laptop 16 can handle AND supply lots of power to 3-4 other devices at the same time. There are some that claim they are 240W however this is for the adapter as a whole and as soon as you start connecting to a bunch of its outputs the max it will supply is 100W on one port (which is fine, just not the potential that the Framework Laptop 16 is designed to have the capacity for) and start limiting or have limited output on the other ports.
There is not a commercially available adapter that will even produce the 240W on a single port the Framework Laptop 16 is capable of. The closest is the prototype board from Infineon and Arrow Electronics.
For my FW16 (no dGPU) I use an Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger for heavy use or a Anker 715 Charger (Nano II 65W) for light use. They are cheap, work great, are very compact and don’t produce much heat.
Some chargers are appearing on the market that support Power Delivery 3.1 (the new PD standard that allows over 100W charging), but they are still limited. Also, the highest single port wattage I’ve seen on these chargers so far is 140W, not 180W like the Framework charger. It will probably keep up with charging the laptop unless you are pushing the GPU and CPU hard with something like videogaming.
I think the new Macbook takes 140W charging which is mostly why the market is finally making some PD 3.1 chargers. It’s hard to find and filter out the PD 3.1 chargers from the noise.
There is one available that does the full 240W. Search the forum for “240W” and a thread should come up where people have shared links and experience buying ones and using it.
Hi,
While the FW16 can input up to 240W from a single PSU, it can only output up to 15W from one port, with other ports much less. So your wish to charge phone from the usb ports of the FW16 is not likely to work.
