Intel has released a paper detailing potential plans to manufacture modular laptops and mini PCs. This approach would decrease e-waste and minimize carbon footprint, as well as make devices repairable and upgradable for users.
Although desktop PCs are already completely modular with users often buying cases and parts separately and putting them together at home, laptops and mini PCs are pretty much the opposite. If you open up your laptop, you’ll see many of the parts are layered on top of each other and soldered in place.
This means you can’t remove them or reach what’s beneath them. This is called an all-in-one motherboard design, and Intel’s paper proposes splitting it into three separate parts: the motherboard and two IO modules. The IO modules would be designed to work with fanless, single-fan, and dual-fan systems for both consumer and commercial markets. By using common parts across multiple models, Intel could significantly improve the efficiency of the manufacturing process.
The modules could also be used across generations so laptops wouldn’t need to be overhauled to accommodate new processors. Corporations may think repairability and upgradability will cause their profits to take a hit, but the simplicity and reusability they could bring would also cut costs for them. For consumers, modularity would mean you could keep the same laptop for much longer by swapping out memory and processors to keep performance up to date with current technology.
As for mini PCs, their current all-in-one design would also be broken down into three — a GPU module, a CPU module, and a Platform Controller Hub (PCH) module. This would work pretty much like a miniature desktop PC, letting you replace the modules and other parts as you want.
At the moment, Framework is one of the only laptop manufacturers that offers this kind of modular device — but delivering this modularity requires quite a few compromises. Current Framework laptops simply don’t feel high-quality enough to satisfy the average consumer, so the products only really work for those who see repairability and upgradability as top priorities.
If Intel were to get into modularity, however, it would essentially make the practice mainstream and many other manufacturers would follow suit. This would bring down prices, fuel new ideas, and make sure we get high-quality devices targeting all kinds of needs.
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