- Frames say that portable 12 is the “purest manifestation” of the company’s vision
- It comes in a choice of five colors and is hard to break, easy to repair
- No word about pricing but pre -orders starts in April with shipping in mid -2025
Do you remember one laptop per Child (OLPC) project? The superambitious initiative launched in 2005 seemed to provide low costs, durable laptops for young students in developing countries at a time when an estimated one billion children had little access to education and no access to computers.
OLPC introduced the XO-1 laptop in 2007 with a unique energy efficient design, a sun-readable screen and mesh networking features. The goal was to sell it for $ 100 per Unit – Although the cost ultimately far exceeded expectations. There were also logistical challenges, such as limited Internet access and lack of teacher education.
Now Framework, the company behind a variety of modular laptops, has introduced the frame Laptop 12, a “durable, repairable, upgradable” 12.2-inch touch screen convertible notebook that reminds me of that project. It is certainly no coincidence that Framework’s founder and CEO, Nirav Patel, worked at OLPC and created Open Source camera and computer vision libraries for sugar us on xo -layerable computers.
“Purest Manifestation” of framework
Patel says the new framework portable 12 is: “The purest manifestation of our vision and product philosophy on framework and is in many ways the product I started the company to create.”
Available in five color roads, each with an optional color-patched stylus, it has an overmilled shock absorbing TPU over stiff PC/ABS plastic with an inner metal structure for durability. And because it comes from frames if you break it, it will be easy to repair.
It may be small, but it is also mighty. As Patel explains: “Instead of using a typical small-core processor, we brought the full 13. Gen Intel Core processor in i3 and i5 variants. We activated support for up to 48 GB DDR5-5200 RAM, 2TB NVME storage space and Wi-Fi 6E, all of which are modular and upgradable. “The 1920 × 1200 display delivers> 400 nits of brightness along with touch and stylus support.
“Even though we had students in mind when we started developing this product two years ago, when we iterated through prototypes we found that every adult who tried it also wanted one!” Says Patel.
There is no word about pricing yet (it will certainly not be $ 100), but we should know more soon as it is expected to be available for pre -order in April with shipments in mid -2025. As always, you can choose between Windows or Linux.
