4 ms·

Yeah, being limited to only 4 ports is a complete non-starter for me especially when you are required to use one of them to charge the laptop. So practically ev

by pavon 5y ago

Yeah, being limited to only 4 ports is a complete non-starter for me especially when you are required to use one of them to charge the laptop. So practically everybody is going to end up filling one of those modular ports with a USB-C module, when they could have easily fit two dedicated USB-C ports in the same space, with no practical loss in expandability.

eikenberry 5y ago
With them being modular, if what you say is true space wise, then I'd expect there to be a module with 2 ports in it eventually.
- Jap2-0 5y ago
  I was reading some forums on their website a little while ago and they said that seemed unlikely with a decent amount of space being used by the mounting mechanism and whatnot. It would be nice, though.
enragedcacti 5y ago
I think the issue with this is the number of thunderbolt ports provided by the chipset. They have to choose between having only 4 ports that all work the same way or more than that where they don't all have the same features.
gregmac 5y ago
In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals). Also, is there any reason to believe someone wouldn't make a two-port USB-C module provided the market for such a thing exists? Maybe off-the-shelf ICs to do this aren't available (which would make this more expensive and thus less likely), but that doesn't mean that will always be the case.
- scoopertrooper 5y ago
  > In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals). The module itself works over USB-C PD, so the only effect of such a module would be to convert the new standard back to USB-C PD with all its limitations, plus the cost of conversion.
  - pxc 5y ago
    The existing ports are thunderbolt, so they may be able to do some things that basic USB PD can't
  - gregmac 5y ago
    True, but that still might be desirable if there's a new cable standard that is otherwise compatible -- beats making the entire laptop obsolete. As a thought experiment: If the Framework laptop existed prior to USB-C PD, it would have been a very cool feature to be able to add a USB-C PD module and effectively upgrade the laptop to support it. It'll be interesting to see if the internal USB-C design works out in the long run. My instinct would have been to build a larger (proprietary) internal connector for the modules that included charging, constant and switched power, USB, and as many PCIe data lines as possible.

by pavon 5y ago

eikenberry 5y ago

With them being modular, if what you say is true space wise, then I'd expect there to be a module with 2 ports in it eventually.

Jap2-0 5y ago
I was reading some forums on their website a little while ago and they said that seemed unlikely with a decent amount of space being used by the mounting mechanism and whatnot. It would be nice, though.

enragedcacti 5y ago

I think the issue with this is the number of thunderbolt ports provided by the chipset. They have to choose between having only 4 ports that all work the same way or more than that where they don't all have the same features.

gregmac 5y ago

In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals). Also, is there any reason to believe someone wouldn't make a two-port USB-C module provided the market for such a thing exists? Maybe off-the-shelf ICs to do this aren't available (which would make this more expensive and thus less likely), but that doesn't mean that will always be the case.

scoopertrooper 5y ago
> In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals). The module itself works over USB-C PD, so the only effect of such a module would be to convert the new standard back to USB-C PD with all its limitations, plus the cost of conversion.
- pxc 5y ago
  The existing ports are thunderbolt, so they may be able to do some things that basic USB PD can't
- gregmac 5y ago
  True, but that still might be desirable if there's a new cable standard that is otherwise compatible -- beats making the entire laptop obsolete. As a thought experiment: If the Framework laptop existed prior to USB-C PD, it would have been a very cool feature to be able to add a USB-C PD module and effectively upgrade the laptop to support it. It'll be interesting to see if the internal USB-C design works out in the long run. My instinct would have been to build a larger (proprietary) internal connector for the modules that included charging, constant and switched power, USB, and as many PCIe data lines as possible.