this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2024
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A unique feature of the Framework laptop is the reconfigurable port system. Where many laptops these days just have some USB-C ports around the edges and if you need to plug something different in you need a dongle, Framework has these little cutouts in the frame that port modules snap into. They're basically dongles you can install into the chassis. You can equip the laptop with whatever ports you want wherever you want, or change them out on the fly. I kinda like the fact you can leave them attached to the laptop.
Nice, but isn't that a whole lot of failure points? I remember a mobile phone based on the same idea and I always felt it could not be very sturdy with all the connectics.
In Framework's case, the port modules slide into rails in the chassis and click into a latch. They're surrounded on four sides by the chassis of the laptop only exposed on the bottom and the outboard edge where the port is. The USB-C port on the motherboard is actually relieved of most if not all of the strain.
Take a typical machine, like a Macbook Air or this little Lenovo Ideapad I've got. The USB ports on the side are mounted either directly to the motherboard which spans the whole chassis, or a separate daughterboard connected with a ribbon cable. Now plug a USBC to HDMI dongle into that, and then a thick, heavy HDMI cable off of that. The weight of all of this is now being supported by the solder joints holding that USBC port to the circuit board. On a Framework laptop, effectively what's happening is the USBC to HDMI dongle is being braced by the chassis so the little USBC connection isn't bearing the weight of the HDMI cable. So I think Framework's solution is less prone to damage in practice.
Furthermore, do you know how many laptops I've seen that had dongles sticking out of a port that were dropped on that dongle, destroying that USB port? Framework's solution does two things: Puts adapter dongles inboard of the chassis meaning no vulnerable protrusions, and if you do have, say, a Logitech Unifying Transciever sticking out of a USB-A port adapter, and it gets dropped on that corner and it destroys the port, it will be the removable module that gets damaged, not the motherboard port. So go to their store, buy another $9 port module, and swap it out yourself.
I imagine it doesn't work so much in a phone for a few reasons. Phones are a lot smaller and internal space is more precious, so user level connectors would take up a lot of room. Phones are some of the most abused electronics out there since we handle them nearly constantly, so ideally they'd be carved out of solid granite. We're talking about attaching larger overall pieces of the device together with a phone, instead of clipping a module in you're talking about attaching a quarter of the device. And, mostly, no one was really asking for that kind of functionality in a phone.
Seems like a lot of hassle to me for not very much benefits. I mean I have never broken an inbuilt usb port, but connectics are quite often getting unreliable and glitchy, even sometimes inside a phone or laptop.
Thanks for the rundown though and it feels like a fun tinker laptop, cheers :-)
the way they market it is "most laptops these days have like 2 USBC ports on one side and that's it. it's has 4 ports, two on each side, that can be anything you want.
Stop beating a dead horse, I got the idea.
If you need X usb ports buy a laptop with X usb ports man or switch the ethernet port for one I guess. I just don't think the idea is appealing enough, for me it's like having inbuilt dongles with a point of failure each.
You like it? Go get one!