- Modular laptop vendor Framework said it will launch a RISC-V product in 2025
- RISC-V is the equivalent of Linux for hardware, open source and free
- More tech companies are adopting, but it has yet to hit the mainstream in a meaningful way
RISC-V, an open source ISA developed at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, has steadily gained attention as a customizable alternative to proprietary ISAs such as x86 and Arm.
Its license-free approach allows manufacturers to create and modify processors without restrictions, leading to adoption in various specialized applications, and this year could mark an important step towards wider consumer adoption of the architecture.
For RISC-V to truly reach the mainstream, it still needs to gain traction in the notebook market. Hong Kong-based DeepComputing introduced the first RISC-V notebook, the Roma, in 2023, followed by the DC-Roma II in 2024, which shipped with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed. Although praised for its open source flexibility, the laptop’s performance lagged behind the x86 and Arm alternatives – but speaks to IEEE spectrumDeepComputing CEO Yuning Liang said the company’s upcoming DC-Roma III will close that gap with performance comparable to the Arm Cortex-A76.
Enter the Framework
Perhaps even more exciting, DeepComputing is partnering with Framework, a company known for its modular, repairable laptops, to create a RISC-V motherboard for the Framework Laptop 13. Nirav Patel, CEO of Framework, said, “If we see in a few generations down the line [software] stack, we’re starting to see a line of sight for consumer-ready RISC-V in something like a laptop or even a phone.”
According to IEEE spectrum“While still intended for early adopters and developers, it will be the most accessible and polished RISC-V laptop to date, and will ship to users with the same look and feel as the Framework laptops using x86 chips.”
After the initial announcement in June 2024, the Framework launched a product page for the RISC-V motherboard, but it remains a placeholder.
However, DeepComputing’s website reveals more details, including images of the DC-Roma RISC-V Mainboard for the Framework 13 Laptop, one of which can be seen at the top of the page. The board is powered by the RISC-V 64-bit quad-core CPU JH7110 and supports both Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 and Fedora 41.
RISC-V has already been embraced by a number of technology companies. Western Digital uses it for storage controllers, British startup Blueshift Memory’s BlueFive processor is built on an open source RISC-V core, the Chinese XiangShan project has developed two RISC-V designs, and Ubitium has a universal RISC-V processor that consolidates all computing workloads onto a single, affordable chip.
We’ll likely see more details about Framework’s RISC-V Laptop 13 in the coming months, but given the current focus on developers and early adopters, along with performance limitations compared to established architectures like x86 and Arm, it seems fair to say that while this is undoubtedly a major step forward for the architecture, RISC-V is not yet ready for mainstream consumer adoption.
