# What is this button cell for and why is it present in only one of my laptops?

**URL:** <https://community.frame.work/t/what-is-this-button-cell-for-and-why-is-it-present-in-only-one-of-my-laptops/82822>\
**Category:** Framework Laptop 13\
**Tags:** intel-11th, intel-13th, laptop-13-chassis\
**Created:** [May 31, 2026, 10:12am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/what-is-this-button-cell-for-and-why-is-it-present-in-only-one-of-my-laptops/82822 "2026-05-31T10:12:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MorayM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@MorayM](https://community.frame.work/u/MorayM)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 10:12am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/what-is-this-button-cell-for-and-why-is-it-present-in-only-one-of-my-laptops/82822/1 "2026-05-31T10:12:19Z")

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This question is more curiosity than anything else!

I was swapping the keyboard from my 11th gen laptop to my 13th gen laptop and noticed this on the motherboard. The 11th gen has a button cell on the board, and the 13th has the holder for the cell but nothing in it. I assume it’s a CMOS battery for UEFI/internal timekeeping, but why is it not needed in the later model?

 ![IMG_20260530_192905](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/9/7/97d50db677d5ead635d79385156c05b194e615e8.jpeg)

 ![IMG_20260530_192859](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/framework3/original/3X/b/7/b754ebd4b9f45e1ad301245ac2cad721469a662d.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![MJ1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.frame.work/mj1/32/15519_2.png) [@MJ1](https://community.frame.work/u/MJ1)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/what-is-this-button-cell-for-and-why-is-it-present-in-only-one-of-my-laptops/82822/2 "2026-05-31T10:21:20Z")

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Welcome to the forum.

They changed the circuity to allow it to use the main laptop battery.

An RTC/CMOS battery holder or plug remains because it’s useful to those who put the mainboard to use where they don’t have a main battery.

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**Author:** ![MorayM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@MorayM](https://community.frame.work/u/MorayM)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.frame.work/t/what-is-this-button-cell-for-and-why-is-it-present-in-only-one-of-my-laptops/82822/3 "2026-06-04T12:47:54Z")

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Fascinating, thank you!