The Framework Laptop 16: A Thin, Durable, and Upgradeable System
The Framework Laptop 16 is a high-performance, upgradeable laptop that is surprisingly light and thin, measuring under 18 mm in thickness. It features a combination of magnesium alloy and machined aluminum parts for the enclosure, making it extremely rigid and durable. If you choose to add discrete graphics using a Graphics Module, the back section of the laptop extends to just under 21 mm thick, enabling much higher thermal capacity for the GPU.
The Framework Laptop 16 is a more mechanically complex product than the Framework Laptop 13, with a larger screen size, higher performance parameters, and two new module systems with the Input Modules and Expansion Bay. Despite this, it boasts a clean, minimal industrial design, with no externally visible fasteners.
The Core Mechanical Parts
The Framework Laptop 16 is made of two core mechanical parts: a molded magnesium alloy Bottom Cover and a CNC aluminum Top Cover. Both of these are items made in collaboration with Catcher Technology, one of the most advanced enclosure manufacturers in the world. The parts are fabricated at Catcher's highly-automated facility in Tainan, Taiwan, where there are vast fields of molding and milling machines.
The Bottom Cover
The Bottom Cover is a single, complexly structured magnesium alloy part, fabricated using a process called thixomolding. This manufacturing technique involves heating magnesium alloy to a semi-liquid state and then injection molding it into custom tooling. This allows for extremely precise large parts with detailed structural elements. The Bottom Cover is the single largest mechanical part ever built for the Framework Laptop, and it achieves high rigidity while keeping weight low. Magnesium alloy is lighter than aluminum, and thixomolding a large part like this also means that processing time and waste material are reduced. A small amount of milling is performed for features that can't be molded, and a low-VOC paint process is used to protect and color match the magnesium alloy.
The Top Cover
The Top Cover of the Framework Laptop is a CNC aluminum anodized part, just like on the Framework Laptop 13. Because the Top Cover is thin, the CNC process works well to leverage the strength and durability of aluminum without resulting in a large quantity of waste material. The milled out material is melted down to feed back into future aluminum enclosure material. The Bottom Cover is made of 90% post-industrial recycled magnesium alloy, while the Top Cover is made of 75% post-industrial recycled aluminum. The aim is to find post-consumer recycled sources for both of these in the future.
Other Parts
In addition to the two main structural parts, there are a number of smaller plastic inner frame and cosmetic parts, along with the magnetic attach, color-customizable bezel. These are all made of 30-35% post-consumer recycled polycarbonate (PC) or PC+ABS plastics.
The Framework Laptop 16 is a remarkable achievement in mechanical design, and the team behind it will continue to share more detail throughout the year on the mechanisms, materials, and manufacturing processes that make it possible to build a 16" high-performance laptop that is simultaneously thin, robust, and refined, while remaining simple to upgrade, repair, and customize.
