Update to my post above… I am definitely planning to buy FW 13, & I believe I found a source for the Airbar so I will have a touchscreen! I’ll post the link here after I confirm the URL & check how many may be available in stock. 
1 Like
I recall seeing Airbar. I wondered how well it would work. Looks like there is a 13.3" one on ebay (for windows).
I don’t want to be the naysayer, but the airbar is not a real alternative.
A native touchscreen usually comes bundled with the correct glass for it, for example my HP comes with a touch+gorilla glass option. (and a crappy bios, but this is another story 
)
1 Like
Of course it is not an alternative, but it’s better than nothing.
I would slap my momma for a touchscreen in my FW 13, and I bet she wouldn’t even be made if I told her why I did it.
Perhaps seeing these cries for a touchscreen littering their forums, Framework will put in the effort to making it happen. They just received a shiny new round of funding, after all…
You speak as though this were not a modular laptop and it were stuck with the same hinges you bought it with.
As much as I will be happy with basically any touch screen on a FW laptop, I would love to be able to convert it to one of the 360° hinges and use it in a tablet mode of sorts. I really liked my HP specter x360, and I almost bought another except I like Framework’s premise and wanted something more powerful (and am soft boycotting HP because of how much I hate my printer, but that’s off topic.)
True, but I was hoping more that there will be more vendors that jump this train, and produce native alternatives to the components provided by Framework, but I guess this will take more time, and will probably require a bit different size of their potential market.
Yeah, I was about to look into investing myself if they did not make it so rigid for non-US citizens.
You’re right, it was rude and I owe you an apology. I’m sorry. I had just come over from a separate forum on Reddit on a completely different topic where conversation had been more feisty and I brought the tone with me, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Thanks for calling me on my BS, because it was uncalled for.
Getting back on topic, I would definitely replace my screen if a touchscreen were available. Your point about it being an otherwise perfectly good screen is well taken; hopefully there would be some sort of way to repurpose it as a separate display, which would be super cool. I don’t know that I would expect that to be available as an option right away, but somebody might design one, ie cooler master or someone else. I have 3D printed enclosures and such for things before, so it would just be the electronics component of it that needs to get worked out. (Although obviously that’s the hard part!)
2 Likes
Poking my head back in as I was curious if there has been any developments on a DIY solution using off the shelf parts? I’ve read that the 16 has a header for touchscreens, and I very badly want to upgrade to a 16 (I have a first gen 13), but the lack of touch is holding me back. I suppose if a DIY solution exists I could go that route.
Just another voice in the crowd here – I’d have loved to join the Framework movement, but the lack of touchscreen option is a dealbreaker for me (most interested in the 16). DIY would be okay, if it’s not too onerous.
In the meantime, looks like I’ll have to get something off the rack from someone else. Maybe by the time that laptop dies (and it wouldn’t be repairable, of course, so that time could come all too soon), Framework will have what I need…
1 Like
I’m in the same boat & will order next day if there were a touchscreen option available in 13 incher.
Will have to bite the bullet and buy something else for now.
I used to dislike touchscreens for the fingerprint/ smudge reasons but once i used an ipad & yoga w touchscreen implementation, i got used to the convenience & impossible to go back.
I keep touching screens everywhere 
it is very difficult not to, once you get used to one. To be frank I don’t understand why this isn’t a default feature for all screens by default, but that is probably just me.
1 Like
Anyone done a touch-panel? (thinking about doing a tablet kinda build…)
What screen(s) did you use?
Has anyone actually purchased and tried any specific parts that utilise the internal edp connection{s}?
I was looking at some today but i dont think there’s a standard for how the 40 pin connections need to be. that makes me doubt that any random edp connector is gonna work. for all we know it might even fry our mainboards 
1 Like
There are a few de-facto standard pin-outs for lcds, oleds are a whole other ballgame. The display-side of the framework uses the “standard” 4-lane, no-touch pinout so there are a lot of screens that would work with it directly, finding one that physically fits is quite a bit harder though.
It can definitely do damage if you use the wrong pinout, especially an oled one (I definitely have never done that and learned that the hard way XD)
Reversing to design an adapter board is possible, just ask the member who put an iPad display in a MacBook chassis and wired it up to a framework (they did not pass through the touchscreen signals). That would enable injecting the USB digitizer signals into the 40-pin cable. The issue is just sourcing the panel.
Sadly, same here. I am in the market for a new laptop in the next few months and the ONLY reason I won’t buy a Framework laptop is the lack of touch screen. The laptop is for my husband and he is a software developer and pianist. He hates overusing his fingers on a touchpad to scroll and click when he can just poke the screen. The amount time people spend on computers really adds up these days and chronic injuries can be avoided with simple upgrades like this. He finds touchscreens essential for staving off finger pain when he is off the clock from using his PC for work and uses his laptop for media consumption, casual gaming, and software development for personal projects and such while on trips or away from the house. I LOVE what Framework is doing. Been following it on Linus Tech Tips since he first mentioned you guys. I build all the PCs for our household and would love to have the same kind of customization and upgradability in a laptop. Those swappable I/O modules and GPU module are a game changer. Bring out a touch screen option and you will have a lot more customers. My husband currently uses an aging Razer Blade Stealth thin and light. It doesn’t fold around like a tablet and he prefers that it doesn’t. You literally just need a touchscreen option and a lot more people will line up to buy!
3 Likes
Came by just to agree with the last comment. I’m too on the market with my wife and I’m really frustrated that I’ll have to shop something else.
Btw, have anyone checked if a vendor like the one behind gorilla glass would find this a good niche for an aftermarket product? (Or is it not as easy as it sounds?)
I also need touchscreen please!
I’m surprised about how long this issue exists. My only deal-breaker which keeps me from buying the 13" laptop is the lack of touchscreen. I wanted to update my old laptop one year ago already and I have no idea of how to speed things up except to post my comment here and pay attention to this problem. I’m very patient but it also has limits. If someone who works in framework reads this please make a touchscreen update or at least explain how to upgrade your laptops at home if it’s possible.