expansion bay · framework laptop 16 platform

The graphics card slides out the back.

LAP-1 is built on the Framework Laptop 16, so its GPU is not soldered to the board. It is a module in the Expansion Bay under the dials. Lift the service plate on top, slide the module out of the back, and fit the next one.

LAP-1 in Graphite, lid closed, seen from behind and to the right. The Graphics Module is drawn as a ghost, pulled 75 mm out of the back, with its GPU board and heatsink visible inside. — the graphics module, pulled 75 mm out and drawn as a ghost to show the board and heatsink inside

gpu: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop · 8 GB GDDR7 · 100 W sustained
or: AMD Radeon RX 7700S, Framework's first Graphics Module
link: PCIe x8 to the mainboard · up to about 210 W on the bay's power rail
cooling: the module's two fans also cool the CPU
depth: 290.2 mm with the module · 270 mm with a flush bay
swap: from the top: 4 × M1.6 screws, then the bay's 2 captive screws
power: 240 W USB-C charger with the GPU fitted

inside

Under the dial row, with 0.6 mm to spare.

The module carries the GPU, its heatsink and the laptop's two fans. It sits under the three dials. That is why the deck is 17.5 mm tall: the dial sensors and their 2.5 mm tiles have to clear the heatsink.

Top of the GPU heatsinkZ 12.72 mm
Lowest dial sensor above itZ 13.3 mm
Deck height17.5 mm

X-ray view of LAP-1 from the front right. The body is see-through. The Graphics Module's heatsink and board fill the space under the dial row, and the CPU cooler's fin stacks sit at both rear corners. — x-ray, showing only the bay and the cpu cooler its fans serve

airflow

Air in from below, out the back and both sides.

The fans draw air through a mesh in the module's floor. They push it through the GPU heatsink and out of the rear spine, and through the CPU's fin stacks and out of both side walls. On the left, the docked sampler module carries a duct, so the exhaust passes straight through it.

X-ray view from the front left with airflow arrows: orange arrows leave the left and right side walls and the rear spine. — exhaust paths, read from Framework's CAD

LAP-1 seen from below. The grey Graphics Module forms the rear part of the floor, with the engraved spec plate in front of it. — underside: the module's floor takes the air in

swap

Opened from the top, like Framework's own.

On a Framework 16 you reach the bay's connector and screws through a door under the input modules. LAP-1's display deck covers that spot, so the blank tile and the first two dials are one service plate instead.

Undo the plate's four M1.6 screws and lift it off, dials and all.
Unplug the interposer and loosen the bay's two captive screws.
Slide the module out of the back and slide the next one in.

A check in the CAD slides every bay module out past the 20 parts above it. All five come out clear.

Close view of the dial row with the service plate lifted 24 mm. Dials one and two rise with it, and the grey top of the Graphics Module shows through the opening. — service plate lifted 24 mm, dials 1 and 2 with it

hinge

The lid still opens flat over it.

The module's spine fills the back corners where a normal hinge would go. LAP-1's hinge stands in the narrow notch the module leaves free, with its axis above the spine, so the lid folds to 180° and lies over it.

Lid opening0 – 180°
Lid over the spine, lying flat3.16 mm
Rake on the module's rear foot1.3°

LAP-1 with the lid open to 180 degrees, seen low from the rear left. The lid's back lies just above the grey spine of the Graphics Module. — lid at 180°, lying over the graphics module's spine

or no gpu at all

One bay, five modules.

For music, a fast audio interface can matter more than a GPU. The bay takes Framework's flush Shell, a twin-SSD Library, or two LAP-1 modules: a Studio audio interface and a second battery. Every one keeps the two fans, because they cool the CPU.

Rear of LAP-1, lid closed, with the Graphics Module's grey spine at the back.

Graphics framework

RTX 5070 or RX 7700S. A 20 mm spine at the back.

290.2 mm deep

Rear of LAP-1 with the Shell fitted: the back is nearly flush.

Shell · Library framework

The fans and an open card bay. Add Framework's Dual M.2 card for two SSDs.

270 mm deep

Rear of LAP-1 with the Studio bay: a Graphite spine with two DB25 connectors and MIDI and optical ports.

Studio lap-1

PCIe audio: 8 in, 8 out on DB25, ADAT, MIDI, one more SSD.

290.7 mm deep

Rear of LAP-1 with the Power bay: a Graphite spine with a row of charge gauge windows.

Power lap-1

About 70 Wh more, fed into the laptop at up to 90 W.

290.7 mm deep