2026 started with CES (they’re about consumer products), where companies like AMD were just presenting government + corporate AI stuff. We have seen of course single laptops with (advertised) 29-40h battery life for video streaming and screens with 1Hz refresh rate (XPS 14 with Panther Lake), in short time we should get Nvidia ARM systems, but... RAM / SSD are more expensive and power efficient CPU are paired with very power hungry screens or systems are not available immediately (XPS 13). Curtain. Another curtain, because first reviews are quite marketing now and are just saying, that 16h on the battery is amazing (really? I have seen it few years ago).

My opinion: in this situation people will not replace their PC just because of brand, generation number or AI. They need hard facts showing how new systems could be better especially than you can buy thousands of new / used models today.

Framework has got currently at least few strong sell points:

• modularity (much bigger than in other brands),
• environment friendly long support (components can be reused among generations)
• real customization for hardware and BIOS (yes, I know, that every big company has the same, but I will see rather water in Sahara than HP, Dell, Asus, Acer or others will do exactly what people want)
• some nice security features like hardware switch for camera / microphone
• good ideas and realized designs

Disclaimer: I haven't worked with any device from this company in reality and maybe some points below are not actual.

From the specs: I see some things for Framework 13 comparing to my 5 years old Clevo (it's because of other design strategy):

• smaller battery (61 vs 73 Wh)
• smaller screen (13,5 vs 14”)
• no confirmed PWM-free backlight (it’s visible in reviews, but... company officially doesn’t say anything)
• no low power screens (there are only 2,2K or 2,8K displays available)
• bigger weight (1,3kg vs 990g)

If I can suggest something for the future (maybe for checking or investigation or just discussion):

• start selling to more countries (for example lack of support for Switzerland looks at least interesting especially that world leaders make treir meetings in Davos)
• 14” case (it should allow for 70 or 80Wh battery)
• work on decreasing weight:
  • no magnets? (can be replaced with screws or „click-in, click-out” system like in card readers)
  • maybe using carbon?
  • providing 2x USB-C and only two extension modules?
• no holes on the bottom
• passive cooling (vapor chamber) or at least ability of disabling fan (silent mode in BIOS with low TDP)
• new speakers? (many reviews are speaking about them)
• experimenting with LPDDR? Is it possible to make sockets for them? And have just one SODIMM slot like in my Clevo?
• three M2 slots? – one could be used for disk, one for NPU / FPGA and one eventually for Wifi (alternative: NPU/FPGA in extension card)
• better power usage is always welcome – do everything (really everything) in next generations to make it small in idle / off / standby state. I don't know, what is already done, but this includes:
  • disabling keyboard / touchpad when lid is closed,
  • disabling USB controller, when nothing connected,
  • decreasing touchpad / keyboard power to minimum,
  • disabling sound card,
  • low power RAM and Full HD screens, etc.
• starting with new extensions modules:
  • dummy (nothing provided outside)
  • USB-A / USB-C with mechanical switch for selecting charging / charging+data modes
  • 2x USB-C in one
  • FPGA and NPU units
  • some debugging stuff (showing what is taking power)
• providing keyboard layout pictures
• again: Low Power Full HD screens
• confirming „PWM-free” screens and generally giving used LCD models list
• less stickers inside
• market place in official shop? (I don’t want to search for 3rd party or used components and outleet is probably not enough)
• black cases (Clevo or Lenovo-like design)
• modular batteries – you can buy one or more cells
• maybe Samsung SSD in default configs - some reviews are saying, that WD needs more power in idle

Some of things could be provided on request (user is making order and this is produced), some are just ideas.

Personally I would like to check too, what info is provided by battery (optimal: charging cycles count, etc.) and whether Framework motherboards are supporting S9 and S10 and SiOX (they should of course)