This article may contain affiliate links. A purchase after clicking through them supports us at streamersplatform.com as we will receive a small commission without additional cost to you.
Laptops have been around for decades, and while they have improved in many ways, one thing has remained constant: the lack of customizability. Most laptops come pre-built and are difficult to upgrade or repair. However, that is about to change with the arrival of Framework, a laptop manufacturer that is changing the game with their customizable laptops.
Framework was founded in January 2020 by Nirav Patel, who was previously the head of hardware at Oculus. The company’s mission is to make laptops that are easy to repair and upgrade. They are passionate about the electronics right to repair movement, and their laptops are designed with replaceable parts to ensure that they can be fixed easily.
One of the standout features of Framework laptops is their customizability. They offer a range of expansion cards that can be easily swapped out to add new features to the laptop. For example, you can add a secondary hot swappable battery, a video capture card, a WWAN card for cellular data, an M.2 SSD riser, a subwoofer, an AI accelerator, an oscilloscope, a full-size SD/CF/CFExpress/SDExpress card reader, an additional expansion card, a retro game cartridge slot, or an SDR radio module. These features are currently in the concept stage, but it shows the potential of what could be achieved with a Framework laptop.
Framework laptops are designed to be easy to disassemble and repair. The company provides detailed guides and documentation to help users fix any issues themselves. This approach has earned them praise from industry experts such as Louis Rossmann, Linus Sebastian, and Cory Doctorow. In November 2021, Time magazine even listed the Framework Laptop on their list of the 100 Best Inventions of 2021.
Framework has also been successful in securing funding to continue their mission. In the first half of 2021, they were funded with a $9 million seed round. In January 2022, they raised an additional $18 million of financing in a series A round led by Spark Capital.
The concept of customizable laptops is not new, and Google’s Project Ara attempted to do something similar with modular smartphones. However, Project Ara was eventually canceled due to technical difficulties and lack of consumer interest. Framework has managed to overcome some of the technical challenges of modular laptops and has received positive reviews from consumers and industry experts alike.
Framework is a company that is changing the way we think about laptops. Their customizable laptops offer users the ability to upgrade and repair their devices easily. With their focus on the electronics right to repair movement, Framework is on a mission to make electronics more sustainable and user-friendly. The concept of customizable laptops is still in its infancy, but Framework has already shown that it has the potential to revolutionize the laptop industry.
