Schenker aims to take on Framework with the Element 16 laptop featuring modular components

The Schenker Element 16 is not a laptop that can be purchased right now. However, the German brand expects the product to arrive within this year, possibly even by June. Designed by Pegatron and Schenker with help from Intel, the Element 16 is set to take on Framework with its customizable and easy-to-repair design philosophy.

16-inch laptop with a focus on repairability

The laptop will be powered by Intel's latest and greatest Panther Lake chips, specifically the Core Ultra 7 356H with 16 cores, 16 threads, and a 4-core Xe3 iGPU. The chip should be quite the screamer when it comes to synthetic CPU performance, while leaked Geekbench listings reveal that the iGPU should be somewhere between the Radeon 840M and Radeon 760M iGPUs.

Needless to say, the most interesting aspect of the Schenker Element 16 lies not in its specs, but its modular nature. The motherboard itself can be swapped out and replaced, which will allow for better processors down the line. Memory requirements are taken care of by soldered 16 GB DDR5-6400, as well as a SODIMM slot which can house an additional 64 GB. A M.2 slot is present for storage requirements (1 TB WD Black currently $210 on Amazon).

The battery is also swappable, as is the keyboard. Folks who are almost constantly on the go will definitely find the swappable battery to be quite the life saver. That said, battery replacements wont be tool-free, since the bottom cover will have to be removed first. The fans are also replaceable, making repairs pain-free when needed.

Moreover, it is obvious that folks with different workloads may have different I/O requirements. Schenker addresses this by offering swappable I/O modules on either side of the laptop, allowing customers to pick what they really need. It is unclear how many different options Schenker will offer, although more details should become available as the device nears its official launch.