The first Framework Laptop 16’s are now in customers’ hands, with more Batch 1 units in transit to those who have received shipment notices. Both our factory and our fulfillment warehouse are now on Lunar New Year holiday, so the next set of units will ship and production will resume on February 15th in Taiwan. That will include the remaining Batch 1 orders along with the first Batch 2 systems. We’ll remain in continuous production from there, with most of our total factory capacity allocated to Framework Laptop 16 manufacturing.
The various modules that make up the range of Framework Laptop 16 configurations are also in ongoing production at our module suppliers. Our keyboard vendor ran into an unexpected component shortage on the RGB Macropad though that delayed the start of production on it. We expedited the missing component from a US distributor to avoid further delays in their China-based supply chain and it arrived just before the keyboard factory shut down for the holiday. Production of RGB Macropad will begin directly when the factory re-opens on February 19th (the New Year holiday in China is longer), after which modules will ship to our factory in Taiwan to be packaged and then to our warehouse to ship as part of laptop orders.
One other update we’d like to share is the deeper research we’ve done on feedback a few press reviewers had on keyboard deflection. We performed additional measurements on multiple units and found that there is some unit to unit variation, but that there is a greater range across the span of a keyboard in areas that could deflect more or less depending on the support structure below it. The target we’ve set is under 0.6mm of deflection when pressed with 400 grams of force, which puts the keyboard on par with the behavior on Framework Laptop 13. You can see a measurement below on one system with the keyboard aligned to the left, with some keys exceeding the 0.6mm limit:
The improvement on this that we’re currently testing is a set of five additional rubber pads in the locations marked in red in the image below. Our initial testing shows that with these in place, regardless of keyboard position, deflection is below the 0.6mm limit with 400 grams of force. Once we can validate that this is the best solution, we’ll roll it into production and ship rubber pad kits to those with existing Framework Laptop 16 units who are interested in receiving it. We’ll share a request form when this is ready.
I mean… good? Haha, I mean good that’s what keyboards should do. I spend money just to put gaskets and foam into keyboards so they have a reasonable degree of deflection because its much healthier to have a keyboard with a high degree of impact dampening!
So it might not have been intentional, but Framework might have made this have a more premium feel than otherwise may have happened haha. Nothing will beat those old mechanical keyboards on laptops of course, but this might end up improving it a lot!
I was kinda bummed out I was batch 8 and so late, but I always forget about first adopter issues that get QOL patched as products go out haha. So yeah I am pretty happy, and happy Framework will support Batch 1 and early adopters with the fixes too.
Repost from Reddit
If we’re being honest, not much of a shipment timing update seeing as how they’ve basically mentioned all of this in other posts. I am super stoked that they’ve implemented a fix for the keyboard flex which almost lead me to cancel my preorder seeing as how I expected more from framework especially considering the price and the wait time. This also leads me back to shipment timing. I’m in dire need of a new laptop shortly after my preorder my personal/telework laptop died and seeing as how my preorder said expected wait time Q4 of 23 I just dug out an old 2015 Mac book I had lying around and have been using that… However we’re well past Q4 and nearing into Q2 of the new year and my preorder still says expected Q4! Dying for an update here framework! Love what you guys do and I don’t want any other laptop nor do I have the money to shell out for a temporary replacement before my FW16 ships. I get you don’t want to be overly ambitious and update everyone’s batch wait time seeing as how supply and manufacturing issues could arise and change it all at a moments notice but a better rough estimate would be comforting seeing as how my old Mac book can no longer keep up with my work or personal tasks. Much love as I eagerly await my new laptop
i feel you on the ‘dug out an old machine to limp by’… i’ve mentioned in a couple other threads i ended up resurrecting a mid-2012 macbook pro in order to subsist, but i’m in batch 15, so i have even longer to wait than you do.
I love the responsiveness and transparency of the Framework Team. Very refreshing and it is needed from other companies.
I have a question about the planned improvement to help with the keyboard flexing. The diagram above shows the keyboard on the left with the numpad on the right. Will these modifications also help when the keyboard is in the middle of the laptop or even to the right of it?
Forgive me, please. I have a BS in physics and I like to BS in physics.
Americans seem to be unable to distinguish between force and mass. It drives engineers working every place else in the world crazy. A 180-pound astronaut on the International Space Station is weightless. An 82 Kg astronaut on the ISS still has a mass of 82 Kg. When that astronaut returns to earth, he or she will weigh 803 N.
And then I see 400 gf, which I assume is grams of force. Argh! On the planet earth, the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 Newtons / Kilogram, which is close enough to 10 Newtons/kilogram. 400g is 0.4 Kg. 0.4 Kg * 10 N/Kg = 4 Newtons. What you are really measuring (and doing it right, BTW) is the variation of the spring constant in Hook’s law: x=K*F where x is the displacement and F is the applied force.
I’m actually rather fascinated by what you are learning. I am thinking about how I feel about the keyboard that I am using as I type this. Now that I am thinking about it, feeling it, I can subjectively feel a variation from key to key. I thought it was since I am touch-typing. But if I use just my right index finger, I can (still subjective) feel a difference in displacement. Wow! You guys are thinking about the quality of the laptop!
I am astonished - astonished! - that 3 people liked this. It never occurred to me that even one person would like it, would even care. Jerry_Rowe, Destroya, and Francis : Thank you!
I just got my laptop (batch 11) and I’m not sure if it’s already been fixed in my batch, but if it has, there’s still a disheartening amount of flex. Has it? Does anyone know when the fix was applied?
We don’t have a Framework laptop yet. I’d like to buy several Framework 16 for my company, but I’m a little put off by the flexible keyboard.
Our company, which is located in France, is not set up to place small additional orders, so I hope that if I order them before the fix, that you will be able to send us the fix free of charge for all the laptops.
If this is the only issue holding you back, I’d offer that I find this criticism overblown. I’ve had mine since March and I do not feel flex when typing. Sitting there deliberately pushing on the keyboard in an unrealistic manner, yes I can see that it does flex some, but I don’t feel it one bit when typing.
It’s not a spectacular keyboard. It’s no 2010 Thinkpad or 2006 Inspiron (don’t sleep on old Dells!), but I’ve touched a lot of consumer laptop keyboards in the last few years and I’d put this one well above average for sure. Unless your use case is especially sensitive to keyboard quality, or you are just a keyboard enthusiast, I don’t think the reports of flex should prevent you from buying.
That said, now that there might be an upcoming modification, maybe you might as well wait for the update!
