Framework Computer
Framework Computer Inc is an American laptop manufacturer. The company positions itself as a proponent of the electronics right to repair movement, and their laptops are designed to be easy to disassemble, with replaceable parts. The company's approach has earned them praise from Louis Rossmann and Linus Sebastian, the latter having invested $225,000 into the company. In November 2021, Time magazine listed the Framework Laptop on their list of the 100 Best Inventions.

Products

For the products repairability and upgradability, the company's website has the guide for the replacement and repair and the marketplace.

Framework Laptop 

In July 2021, Framework Computer started to ship their first product Framework Laptop for the US and Canada. In December 2021, Framework Computer started the pre-order for the UK, Germany and France. In February 2022, pre-ordering became available for Ireland, Austria and The Netherlands. Framework Laptop received a 10 out of 10 in iFixit's repairability score. Framework Laptop has the pre-assembled edition, and Framework Laptop DIY Edition to customize, upgrade, and assemble like a desktop. Framework Laptop DIY Edition provides an option without a pre-installed operating system.

Embedded controller firmware 

Framework Laptop is using the proprietary firmware BIOS and an open sourced embedded controller (EC) firmware, that is based on CrOS EC. In April 2021, the company mentioned "Open source firmware is well aligned to our mission of building products. We're currently focused on getting the Framework Laptop out into the world in a lower-risk path that uses an off the shelf proprietary BIOS, but we're looking forward to replacing that with an open alternative in the future.". In January 2022, the company open sourced their EC firmware.

The company is developing their BIOS. The initially shipped BIOS version is 3.02. The latest version is 3.07 in Windows, and the beta version in Linux as of January 6, 2022. The support by the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS) with fwupd is expected. Currently it is in testing state.

A company or individual driven projects 

The company launched the Expansion Card Developer Program to opening card development, released documentation, CAD templates, and reference designs for Expansion Cards, all under open source licenses to make it easy for both hardware companies and individual makers to create new card designs. There are a third party company or individual driven projects.

 Framework Laptop skins & wraps
 Screen protector film
 Arts & wallpapers
 Magnetic charger expansion card
 Dual USB-C expansion card
 LTE Cat 4 Cell modem expansion card
 Scroll wheels expansion card
 A cyberdeck-like keyboard PC that re-purposes the Framework Laptop's motherboard
 An EC tool that changes the colors of LEDs and the keyboard layout on the firmware level.

Community relations 

The company has their official forum hosted on Discourse and community platform hosted on Discord. The company provided pre-release hardware to developers and maintainers at Fedora Project, elementary OS, NixOS, and Arch Linux to make the Linux experience as smooth as possible on Framework Laptop. Arch Linux has Framework Laptop page on their wiki site.

Partner relations 

In January 2022, Intel introduced Framework Computer as one of their partners at the tech event, CES 2022. Framework Computer mentioned that they have a communication with the Intel Linux WiFi driver team, and the Framework Laptop's WiFi and Bluetooth stability to be good starting from Linux kernel version 5.17.

Support 

The company supports by knowledge base articles, community forum, QR codes on the products, and inquiry form.

Supported countries and regions 

Framework Laptop is available for order in the US and Canada and for pre-order in the UK, Germany and France. The company announced they will add additional countries in 2022, introducing their region selection page. In December 2021, the company announced that they chose the additional supported countries UK, Germany and France based on both the number of people who registered interest through the region selection page and on logistical complexity. In February 2022, pre-ordering became available for Ireland, Austria and The Netherlands. 

There are several threads about this topic on the community forum. The company recommended users waiting until the company officially launch in your region before ordering. The company commented "if an import service is used, we will not be able to support your laptop or warranty if something goes wrong hardware-wise or assist when it comes to international customs or VATs".

Linux support 

In December 2021, the company released a statement asking users who are not using Ubuntu 21.04.3+ or Fedora 35 to troubleshoot with Framework's Linux community instead of contacting Framework support as no other Linux distribution has been verified by the company for hardware compatibility, mentioning that the company could troubleshoot general product usage issues on a supported OS, but could not troubleshoot OS related issues not related to the product functionality.

Electronics right to repair movement 

Framework Laptop is on display as part of the Waste Age: What can Design Do? exhibition displayed at the Design Museum in London from October 2021 to February 2022.

See also 
 Ethical consumerism
 Fairphone
 Social enterprise
 System76
 Purism
 Pine64

References

External links
 
 Framework Laptop - ArchWiki, the Arch Linux wiki site

Computer companies of the United States
Consumer electronics brands
American brands
Netbook manufacturers
Online retailers of the United States