Framework makes a line of modular, repairable, and upgradeable laptops, and the company has been at it for a few years. So if you bought a first-gen Framework Laptop with an 11th-gen Intel Core processor based on Tiger Lake architecture, you’ve had the ability to upgrade the processor to a 12th or 13th-gen chip by purchasing a new mainboard without the need to buy a whole new laptop.
But Framework also sells older mainboards to folks who want them, for use as replacement parts, cheaper upgrades, or other applications. You don’t need to put them in a laptop at all, and can instead use a Framework Mainboard as a desktop computer or as the basis for a DIY project. And now the company has lowered the price of Framework Mainboards with Tiger Lake chips dramatically, allowing you to pick one up for as little as $199.
In a blog post, Framework explains that it recently discovered that the Compal factory that had been involved in manufacturing the company’s original laptops still had a bunch of finished and partially finished mainboards with 11th-gen Intel chips. Rather than let them sit on a shelf indefinitely or let them go to waste, Framework has tested them, updated their firmware, and then priced them to move, by cutting the prices substantially.
Up until recently, a Framework Mainboard with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor was selling for $449, now it’s $199.
The price for a Core i7-1165G7 model has dropped from $699 to $299. And the Core i7-1185G7 model that used to sell for $1,049? Now you can pick it up for just $399.
While these little computers are much larger and still cost more than, say, a typical Raspberry Pi single board computer, they’re also a lot more powerful and very versatile thanks to support for up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, PCIe 4.0 storage, and four USB4 ports, among other things.
The boards also come with a heat sink and fan, but no chassis. You can either 3D print your own or buy a pre-built case like the $39 model made by Cooler Master.
We’ve also seen folks use Framework Mainboards as the basis for projects including:
- An unusual PC terminal with a retro-inspired keyboard and a circular display
- A cyberdeck with a transparent case, a split-keyboard, aa trackball, and a 7 inch display
- An upgraded IBM ThinkPad 701C with a butterfly keyboard that expands when you lift the lid
hey brad, thanks a lot for your work! in this case, it seems you wrote this article in four seconds – there are more typos than I’ve ever seen 🙂
This is what happens when I try writing an article on my phone. Should have probably waited until I could grab a laptop!
At this point Brad Linder is just an AI Entity that lives in the Information Super Highway.