It is such a shame their new screen doesn’t have touch. My company has decided to move on from framework because of the lack of touch. It’s been 2 and a half years and everyone misses their touch screens. I’ve already switched back. Love frameworks thing and the desire for repairability. But customers have been requesting touch screen since they started and has been one of the most requested features. This new screen without it seems like they don’t care especially about what the community wants outside of the community they want to listen (Linux).
One more vote for “need/want” touch screen (on 13’').
I’m also in the category where it’s not really “nice to have”, e.g. I need to be able to make notes with a stylus and sign PDFs and such. I’d really love to get a Framework when my now 3y+ Spectre gives up.
I do agree that even better would be 2-in-1, but that would be something negotiable. Of course I get that we don’t always get wat we want, but it is a very serious consideration, and TBH, I really think a Framework 2-in-1 could be the absolute killer, so it might be really worth it for them.
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I would speculate (also from my own bias of course) that Linux users are significantly over-represented in Framework’s target group, because of the “shared interests”:
- Linux HW compatibility is a first class citizen (and that’s pretty rare, just Framework, Tuxedo and System76 come to mind)
- People that are not mere “appliance consumers” but appreciate (deliberate, technically guided) choice, modularity, repairability, sustainability, fair (and verifiable) pricing, DIY spirit
I like my spectre (mostly for its 2-in-1-ness and compactness), but never got the fingerprint reader to work and certainly needed some tinkering to get a good UX with a non-mainstream OS (NixOS) and DE (custom/Hyprland), so a Framework 2-in-1 would be an instant no-brainer for me, and I would speculate potentially much more than just a niche market.
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Hello folks,
I wanted to ask
- If there is a chance for touch-screen support (maybe even with a display-casing solution for a convertible. Times change and laptop designs change and personally I would buy a convertible Framework 2-in-1 solution! Are there not other people who feel that way? Also it would be a great way for Framework to “keeping up with the Kardashians”.
- Until time is ripe and Framework would show interest in the idea of a convertible, would I be free to insert a touchscreen into my Framework Laptop if I bought one? That is swap the current screen for a 13" touchscreen? I am just playing some thoughts through. I don’t know yet if I would want to. I would procrastinate a decision until I would hold one in my hands actually. But until then I am just curious whether it would be technically feasible and if what your philosophy on the screens is:
2.1 Do you see the screen as modular part too?
2.2 Because, for instance, if I should try to swap the screen and make a mistake, is there a way to buy a screen from you officially?
2.3 I am not as hardware-savvy. I could imagine that it is possible to solder some ram for instance. But I have no real idea about the ways displays are usually connected to the motherboard (?). And if there is even always a possibility for swapping displays so easily.
Thanks for an answer in advance.
Yours sincerely
Balthasar Zorn
PS: If I order, do you guys have a anchor branch nearby Germany? Else I could imagine things would become troublesome time-wise in any case of reclamation-case. Wouldn’t want to wait weeks for a defect part to be replaced. Just in case…
Honestly the biggest issue for me is accessibility. I am sight impaired, and the addition of a touchscreen especially for magnifier use would be a huge improvement for me. I keep finding myself going back to my tablet simply because the touchscreen makes the UI so much easier to navigate for me.
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A touchscreen of the correct size exists, and it might be possible for Framework to buy them. The first six generations of Microsoft’s Surface Laptop have a screen the same size and resolution as the original Framework 13 display (not the new 2.8K one). The most recent one, the Surface Laptop 6 for Business, is only sold through their business division and is a current product. The new Arm-based seventh generation Surface Laptop has a slightly larger display.
I don’t know anything about other attributes of that screen, like whether the interface is compatible with the one that Framework uses. It’s also possible that Microsoft has an exclusive deal on that display, so the maker isn’t allowed to sell them to anyone else.
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it all comes down to pinout, but if one exists, thats most the work.
I’m in the same boat. Leaving touchscreen behind is a heartbreaker for me. The 2-in-1 part is more negotiable.
I have spent so much effort on cobbling together touch support even with my 10y+ laptop that never did touch. I went through the trouble of figuring out how to reverse USB tether using an old Android tablet, run a VNC desktop over it, and then use that as a touch screen. Or running an X server directly on the Android tablet. This was before more mainstream screen share apps came by.
I was so, so happy with my Spectre. Overjoyed. 4k screen where I couldn’t see the pixels. Touchscreen. 2-in-1. Stylus support. Upgradeable RAM, SSD. What’s not to love? It just (after 5 years) started having some random reboot issues. I took it apart and put it back together, and it stopped having them. No idea what was wrong, but I hope it doesn’t come back. Also my LCtrl is dead.
But that’s why I want to switch to Framework. I keep checking (praying) every other week if Framework is saying something about releasing a touchscreen. I’d be so happy to switch. So happy. Please think about it.
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Recently my Spectre’s 1TB NVME died without much forewarning (I did have some suspicious hangs a few days before, and I immediately suspected storage, but all checks I did came back clean).
Replacement with a different brand (any?) one was super easy (and up and running in no time, because I don’t keep unique data on it and it’s NixOS so completely installed as it was without much intervention).
I checked for other “repairability”, and it looks the battery would be easy to replace too. So the Spectre’s still got quite some life in it (now almost 5 years old) if the motherboard and mechanical parts hold out.
Just to say, if you’re lucky and somewhat technically versed, you could still use your spectre for some time…
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