Edit: seems that the usb-c ports are in fact thunderbolt-capable, per the responses below, just not certified by Intel (yet). That makes the modules a little more interesting though I still think the current offerings for the cards is very lackluster.
I can only suppose it is getting design awards because it was designed to be modular rather than looking at it from a pure aesthetic point. It looks fine to me, it's almost reaching the perfectly boring laptop aesthetic. This isn't a denigration, I like unbranded simple clothing like uniqlo and the like as well. I personally do not own one, but my impression from the videos I've seen is bifurcated between appreciating the modularity and hating the implementation.
A framework owner might be able to enlighten me on this, but the display bezel being attached by magnets just seems a bit flimsy to me. I like the idea of the different expansion cards, but it does mean that there is no thunderbolt which is a miss for me. The full sized display port expansion card is definitely a win, but the rest seem unremarkable and frankly does the same or less than a usb hub. This could of course change depending on your own inclination to build expansion cards or third party/future first party cards, but right now the offerings aren't exceptional.
I do hope they are making enough money to see a second generation and see just how flexible their current chassis is. The new 12th gen intel chips or a ryzen version would be very welcome to see.
I can only suppose it is getting design awards because it was designed to be modular rather than looking at it from a pure aesthetic point. It looks fine to me, it's almost reaching the perfectly boring laptop aesthetic. This isn't a denigration, I like unbranded simple clothing like uniqlo and the like as well. I personally do not own one, but my impression from the videos I've seen is bifurcated between appreciating the modularity and hating the implementation.
A framework owner might be able to enlighten me on this, but the display bezel being attached by magnets just seems a bit flimsy to me. I like the idea of the different expansion cards, but it does mean that there is no thunderbolt which is a miss for me. The full sized display port expansion card is definitely a win, but the rest seem unremarkable and frankly does the same or less than a usb hub. This could of course change depending on your own inclination to build expansion cards or third party/future first party cards, but right now the offerings aren't exceptional.
I do hope they are making enough money to see a second generation and see just how flexible their current chassis is. The new 12th gen intel chips or a ryzen version would be very welcome to see.