Honestly, keep iterating and adding on to the current laptop. People all over the forums and this thread have already said it, but it can be repeated:
Screen options: Resolution, touch, matte, “secure view” (low viewing angles for business security)
Trackpoint and keyboard options
More module options
Chassis options (perhaps a thicker one for more battery?)
Processor options (AMD, ARM)
I feel like there is a lot the Framework team should be doing that could improve the current product that is available versus making something else / in addition to it. If it were to be something else:
More laptop sizes (people have been begging for a 15 inch or bigger), possibly with a dedicated GPU
Phone (for those of us who can’t get our hands on a Fairphone. It would be a rough market to break into though, so wouldn’t be my first choice)
Tablet (since a community project is already starting this, seems like it may be a logical jumping off point)
Computer accessories / peripherals (probably the most logical space to grow into, IMO, since it starts becoming more of an “ecosystem”)
Sometimes, I feel threads like this are just like government polls…“We want your opinion…but won’t listen to anything you have to say, and even if we listen, we won’t do anything about it”…to drive community engagement and steer perception.
Afterall, consider the sample pool and size of this forum and twitterverse… we don’t know what weighting measure to apply to the responses… (e.g. what we say here could just a blip against investors on a 1:∞ scale)
Yes…but let’s not ignore the rest of the accompanying factors (all the other straws, or, time & chaos).
So really, there’s no visibility / pre-established structure to know how this will go. So, “I” feel that’s what it currently ‘is’. I’ll likely feel differently if there’s additional data points to suggest actions.
We see the direction when we see it…and that’s whenever Framework decides to announce new products. That’s just how they operate. Curbing my enthusiasm.
I would love to see a framework phone, however, I believe that is an impossible market to be new in (even though nothing.tech seems on the surface to be succeeding as a newcomer). Personally, I would love to see some sort of wall mount case with touch screen that you can install a standard framework board into, can be used for like smart home monitors or a kitchen display or maybe even a powerful in car entertainment system? I don’t know… just trying to think of something that will help to further re-using existing products.
I would love to see a motherboard option containing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 (same as is used in the Lenovo X13s and the Windows on Arm devkit) for the specific reason that this ARM processor is of significant interest to the Linux community, but there currently no way to buy it without getting a copy of windows bundled in.
Given that you guys have the DIY edition of the framework laptop, it should be easy to both make a version that will give Windows users great battery life and also offer up the device without windows installed for people who have no interest in running it.
Modular car dash. Car stereo DINs seem to be very proprietary and maybe you guys could partner with Ford or some other car company and establish a universal car stereo/dash slot for customizeable car tech!
Also, this doesn’t really deviate from laptops, but a 2 in 1 version or upgrade kit for the Framework Laptop would be amazing! As a college student I would love to be able to annotate notes on my laptop as well without sacrificing framework modularity.
In Framework’s defense, that is the point of the forum, community engagement. They never said that they were going to implement all the ideas that community members offered up here, they just want to see what ideas we can come up with, maybe if someone suggests something that no one at the company has thought of before it’ll get added to an internal list. I’m not sure where this expectation of feedback came from, but this feels more like a large group brainstorm (and probably the reason Nirav put it into the ‘General Topics’ category)…
I’m really enjoying all the answers so far, but we may want to make sure we’re reading the original post before commenting. Lots of laptops being recommended, and while that’s great, Nirav wanted the focus to be on products beyond laptops!
risc-v motherboard for the framework laptop with support for at least 64GiB of ECC ram
Portable powerbank with user-replaceable 18650 cells
Home hepa filter designed for accepting some sort of standard form-factor hepa filter to avoid proprietary hepa filters with the razor and blades business model
but toasters ARE repairable if you have some idea what you are doing. My dad (chartered electrical engineer) kept ours going for 40 years before mum put her foot down and wanted a new one.
Well now you gotta do it, if you’re gonna acknowledge it like that. Repairable toaster, coffee maker, and the other host of breakfast-related kitchen appliances.
Honestly what I’m having a tough time shopping for tech-wise is compact, customizable home network gear. I’d love a way to pick and choose a few ports at a time for wired networking with a little controller (Raspberry Pi-esque) to run the software for a Ubiquiti wireless AP. Different speeds, ability to choose POE, a wife-approved cases (maybe compatible with standard racks but with the option to be smaller), enough room for a RAID 1 hard drive set for NAS.
Maybe make it just deep enough to slide a mainboard in sideways.
I would say please retain the consumer focus and do not move into the industrial, commercial use-cases!
Laptop - Even before thinking about other devices
It was nice to see frame.work keep their promise when the 11th gen to the 12th gen mainboard were swappable, but a few other pieces that need to be modular are:
Processors: Has been discussed and done to death on the forum, but would be great to see an ARM and an AMD version very very quickly out there now.
Keyboards: Maybe a small subset but swappable keyboards would be a nice to thing to have (I mean ortholinear, etc. and not layouts).
Touchscreen: Given the power of the laptop and modularity being strived for, a touchscreen will easily allow for people like me who sometime need to use it for visual work, just have this instead of another tablet or a Wacom to interface with.
Battery: I would at this point be willing to pay an arm and a leg if the batteries can be made to be a bit larger in capacity too.
Larger bottom panel: I am willing to have a slightly thicker laptop that can accomodate a larger battery, different keyboard and even potentially space for a modular GPU that can connect to one of the USB-C ports (I’m willing to sacrifice one).
Phones
Fairphone and Pinephone have been wonderful for the consumer, but I feel me and a whole bunch of other users sit somewhere between these two in terms of technical ability, intention to use one and the need for having it as a daily driver.
Gaming console
With options like Steamdeck, and what I thought was a wonderful idea in Nintendo Labo, there are Clockwork Pi’s Gameshell, and Playdate, there is ample room and evidence for a nice alternative.
E-Ink device
I absolutely love my Kindle, it has served me really well for the last 8 years, but as it’s battery comes to an end I am on the hunt for open-hardware or devices that are open-source compatible. The panel itself remains fully functional and beautiful, but I do not have the time or the technical know-how to forage for parts and have a fully functional e-ink device that “just” works.
