The reason Framework laptops just keep getting better: 'We're blind to none of the feedback and we absorb it all'
Framework's laptops just keep getting better. Not magically, of course, but it recently announced its new Framework 13 with a Core Ultra 7 laptop and mainboard. But while that new upgrade marks a welcome fourth generation of Intel-based Framework mainboard, it's the attention it gives its community that might have the biggest impact on the whole platform going forward.
«One of our biggest community pieces of community feedback is like, I'm looking for a high resolution display,» Framework's Marissa Buyck tells me.
It's also been my main area of concern having used the 13-inch model as my daily driver for a while now, though I'm not so into having a higher resolution screen (though I do love me some extra pixel density), I want a lower response time. And that's why this has been the laptop upgrade I've been waiting for.
And from getting a quick hands on with the new 500 nits panel tucked away in a deserted corner of Computex, it is definitely a speedier screen. I don't have the exact timing, and I haven't tested it in any deeper way than a quick spin on the Windows desktop just before the lights go out in show halls, but Buyk states that «the response time is improved, and the refresh has improved as well from 60 to 120 Hz.»
The second main area of concern for the community has been around cooling. The fans on my AMD-based, and previous Intel-based Framework 13 can get mighty chatty when it comes to really heavy workloads.
«We've worked with Intel specifically,» says Buyk, «so that the cooling is better than ever, which is going to mean a quieter fan, quieter startups… all over better performance. We've also worked on the battery, so we've been tuning that, trying to improve it as much as possible.
»It's all about just eking out these performance improvements as much as we can. So yeah, a lot of it was working with Intel just to optimise, a lot of it was working with our own software and firmware team to make sure that we're making sure those fan curves are proper.
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