Hi,
The description is:
" Thoughtfully designed
Thin, light, and durable. We crafted the Framework Laptop 16 chassis from high performance materials like thixomolded magnesium alloy and machined aluminum."
The FW16 keyboard and touchpad panels are plastic.
The FW16 base shell is plastic.
The FW16 screen surround is plastic.
Where is the magnesium and aluminum ?
The whole chassis is magnesium. Back of the display is CNC aluminum
The touchpad surround and spacers are aluminium. The Aluminium is all media blasted to give it an even textured finish similar to plastic.
They may also have a plastic spray film on them so they don’t become marked, which Al is very prone to being marked by fingerprints.
I think you are right. There is probably some sort of paint/finish on it that makes it maybe appear to be plastic.
When I opened it up, I could see evidence of metal when I removed some screws.
There was nice shiny metal where the screw threads go and no evidence that there was a small metal insert just for the screw.
I’m pretty sure it’s just regular anodized aluminum, no paint or additional coating necessary. In fact, I recall a conversation about dying the anodize so we could have different colored bodies, to which the response was that it would create hazardous waste for nothing other than aesthetic purposes and that’s rather contrary to the Framework mission.