We offer the DIY Edition without Windows pre-installed, and will be publishing compatibility reports for popular Linux distros.
With Intel 11th Gen CPUs, the Framework Laptop handles up to four simultaneous displays (which can be 4x external displays if you turn off the internal one).
We'll be making review units available before we start shipping products out.
Just because you don't care about 4K or retina doesn't mean it's marketing juju. People obviously find value in it.
I use 2k and 4k screens with scaling on, and it makes text and edges very clear and smooth. It reduces my eye strain significantly. Lower res than 2k is very visibly fuzzy.
It's fine if you don't value that, but to act like it's "not practical in any way" is plainly wrong.
There are people in every laptop thread pushing the narrative that anyone who prefers a higher resolution screen is delusional or lying. It's really strange.
> There are people in every laptop thread pushing the narrative that anyone who prefers a higher resolution screen is delusional or lying. It's really strange.
people get frustrated when they can't find a SKU with their preferred feature set. 4K is not without its drawbacks (dramatically increased power consumption and lackluster hidpi support in some software). imo, 1440p is a much more reasonable upgrade for most laptop sizes, but it seems that most models only offer 1080p and 4K SKUs. sometimes you can't get the high end parts without also getting a 4K panel.
The blocker that is stopping me ordering this today (besides being in Canada) is:
1. The display. I've spent the last several years using laptops with higher resolution displays (either Macbook Pros or, more recently, a 4k Dell XPS 13), and honestly, I'm not going back. It's a shame that the one thing that doesn't seem to be upgradeable right now is the screen configuration. (I realise that the Framework's display isn't exactly low-res, but it feels like it's going to be in an uncanny valley of not quite HiDPI/Retina.)
Beyond that, other things I wish were different (or at least clearer), but which aren't blockers:
1. Like other commenters, I don't use Windows, and I don't particularly want to pay for a Windows licence. 2. There's no mention I can see on the product page of how many external displays are supported, and in what configurations, and that's important to me. 3. I'd probably be more comfortable if some late pre-production units had made it to independent reviewers for judging things like battery life and the display. (I'd love to see an Anandtech breakdown of a Framework!)