- Modular laptop vendor Framework said it will launch a RISC-V product in 2025
- RISC-V is the hardware equivalent of Linux, open source and free
- More technology companies are adopting the technology, but it has not yet gone mainstream in a significant way.
RISC-V, an open source ISA developed at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, has been steadily gaining attention as a customizable alternative to proprietary ISAs like x86 and Arm.
Its license-free approach allows manufacturers to create and modify processors without restrictions, leading to adoption in various specialized applications, and this year could mark a key step towards broader consumer adoption of the architecture.
For RISC-V to really hit the mainstream, it still needs to gain traction in the laptop market. Hong Kong-based DeepComputing introduced the first RISC-V laptop, the Roma, in 2023, followed by the DC-Roma II in 2024, which shipped with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. While praised for its open source flexibility, the laptop's performance fell behind x86 and Arm alternatives, but speaking with IEEE SpectrumDeepComputing CEO Yuning Liang said the company's upcoming DC-Roma III will close that gap with performance comparable to the Arm Cortex-A76.
Enter the frame
Perhaps most interestingly, DeepComputing is collaborating with Framework, a company known for its modular and repairable laptops, to create a RISC-V motherboard for the Framework Laptop 13. Nirav Patel, CEO of Framework, said: “If we look at a couple of generations throughout the [software] stack, we're starting to see a line of sight toward consumer-ready RISC-V in something like a laptop or even a phone.”
According IEEE Spectrum“While still aimed at early adopters and developers, it will be the most accessible and polished RISC-V laptop yet, and will ship to users with the same look and feel as Framework laptops using x86 chips.”
Following the initial announcement in June 2024, Framework launched a product page for the RISC-V motherboard, but it remains a placeholder.
However, the DeepComputing site reveals more details, including images of the DC-Roma RISC-V motherboard for the Framework 13 laptop, one of which you can see at the top of the page. The board is powered by the JH7110 quad-core 64-bit RISC-V CPU and supports Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 and Fedora 41.
RISC-V has already been adopted by several technology companies. Western Digital uses it for storage controllers, British startup Blueshift Memory's BlueFive processor is built on an open source RISC-V core, Chinese project XiangShan has developed two RISC-V designs, and Ubitium has a universal RISC-V processor which consolidates all computing workloads on a single, affordable chip.
We'll likely see more details on Framework's RISC-V Laptop 13 in the coming months, but given the current focus on developers and early adopters, along with performance limitations compared to established architectures like x86 and Arm, it seems fair To say that while this is certainly a big step forward for the architecture, RISC-V is not yet ready for widespread consumer adoption.