Show HN: I made an open-source laptop from scratch
337 comments
·January 22, 2025nrp
Super impressive, and awesome to see that you were able to use Framework Laptop hinges. Let me know if you need more. We have a ton of remaining 3.3kg ones!
Hello9999901
Hey Nirav, super super honored that you saw this! I've always looked up to you guys for inspiration and guidance. Thank you for the offer! Although I probably won't be mass-producing open-source laptops like you (i have a framework 16!), I would love to meet you. Would that be possible?
ankurdhama
Hi Nirav, any plans to start Framework in India?
montroser
Byran... This is seriously impressive. You are very blessed to be so capable in so many disciplines -- design, hardware, software, storytelling. It is a massively complicated undertaking, and you executed in style. Nice work, and remember to use your formidable powers for good!
Hello9999901
Thank you so much! For certain; goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble and knowledge without goodness is dangerous.
It was a truly difficult undertaking! I was ready to quit at so many moments, but I always think about the final mission of sharing this little piece of knowledge with the world. :)
MegaDeKay
My hat is off to you, good sir. Way off. This is an unbelievable accomplishment, doubly so given that you're still in high school (!!!), triple-so given the time you did it in, quadruple-so given that you did it all yourself, etc etc etc.
I was reading this over thinking "this guy should be working for Framework". It would be a total win-win.
Hello9999901
Thank you so much! I'm currently working for Keychron!
noman-land
Really amazing and impressive work. And also an excellent resource for future explorers.
One thing I didn't see mentioned in the video is the total cost of all the materials to complete one laptop not including all the experimentation cost. I'd be super curious about that.
Hello9999901
I have the R&D BOM in a link below [1]
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17arbJvPqW6koqEJwAzne...
Thanks.
jwr
Congratulations! From someone who does mixed electronics+mechanical design: this is hard. There are moments of desperation where you realize that everything depends on everything else, and there is no way to achieve all of your design goals. You then have to realize that engineering is all about compromises, and move on, compromising — but this is very difficult. It's easy to get bogged down in details and dependencies and never finish the project.
It's very impressive work and it makes me so happy to see real hacker news on HN. This is real hacking.
Hello9999901
Thank you so, so much! You phrased it so well. The moments of desperation really hit you hard. I have uncountably many loose ends, but oh well, bad engineering :(. Honored that HN thinks I'm a hacker :)
mchinen
This is really one of the best things I've seen on HN in 15 years.
The mixed presentation of plug and play components interspersed with EE problems and solution really helped make it more accessible. It also got me excited about the possibilities and made me realize that we we might already approaching another open architecture DIY boom.
I got the sense that this is a side project, but I'm sure many have noticed that it could be a legit framework-level company. Someone already mentioned the recruiters, but also you're sure to have investors knocking. Whatever you do, please keep having fun and sharing it.
snake_doc
Okay, I'll help him humble brag:
Bryan is in his last year of high school.
</end>
Keep building!
chuckwfinley
This is incredible work for anyone, let alone a high schooler. Seriously impressive!
I hope this turns into something I can buy (maybe a diy kit), in the future!
Hello9999901
Thanks! I've been considering it (or enough detailed instructions to build one) since starting the project. I need to get a working model first though ;)
ricardonunez
We are going full circle, Woz will be proud.
GardenLetter27
You study quantum mechanics in High School in the USA?
Hello9999901
We discussed wave functions, probability, fermions/bosons, did calculations for particle in a box, the Schrödinger model, and went just up to deriving the hydrogen atom. Nothing super fancy, but it was one heck of an experience!
stackghost
But did you win the Putnam?
GardenLetter27
It's really interesting, in the UK I don't think we did (but I later studied Physics at university) - but we did have Further Maths which covered more advanced mathematics.
Also your project is incredible btw, maybe look into robotics too.
Izikiel43
> High school quantum theory
> Nothing super fancy
Yeah, that's college level stuff, it's pretty fancy for high school, you go to a nice place :)
mattnewton
Some do- He thanks Phillips Exeter at the bottom of the project page, which is a very fancy private highschool, probably the best in the US.
macNchz
I went to a peer school that had at least a couple of math teachers with PhDs—my friends at the time who took their classes were, if I recall, nationally competitive in math olympiads.
rafram
It's more possible than you'd think! The options are basically:
- Go to a fancy private school like Phillips Exeter
- Really luck out and get into a great public STEM magnet school
- Homeschool and take private classes / have very smart parents
cbmamolo
All I did was provide him the space and time to work on the project ... his parents funded the entire project, but will get reimbursement soon. It's the great minds, and the desire to have meaningful projects that make Exeter such an awesome place. Byran is one of a kind!!!!
rafram
Oh, or:
- Concurrently enroll at a community college (a really great option that I think every country should have)
notnaut
Some public schools in very wealthy counties will teach some basic quantum mechanics in honors/AP classes, too. All you have to do is acquire parents that can afford the shittiest neighborhood in those districts!
2muchcoffeeman
Can't tell if this is sarcasm.
TeMPOraL
In the high school in Poland I attended, I lucked into being in a class with a university TA assigned as physics teacher, and he did manage to sneak in QM - more-less the same stuff as 'Hello9999901 listed in their reply.
(He also taught us differentiation in the first semester, and basic integrals in the second, because as he said, you cannot learn physics properly without those tools. This annoyed the heck out of our math teacher; she ended up deciding that, if we're learning this anyway, we might as well learn it properly - and gave us a much heavier intro to calculus in the last months of the last year.)
apricot
The USA has some great schools. OP goes to Phillips Exeter Academy, which is an exclusive private school that ranks among the best high schools in the country.
govg
Not all high schools but the US has some schools which allow you to take very advanced material / even get a head start on your college credits.
mschuster91
We had a cursory introduction at least about 15 years ago in Germany, it's not that far off.
volemo
You don’t study basics of QM in your high schools?
t4TLLLSZ185x
For those that missed it, this Engineer is in _high school_.
Byran, I have been a professional engineer longer than you have been alive, I can tell you right now that I have met very, very few people that would have the motivation, skill and sticktoitivness to pull this off.
denysvitali
And the time. Don't underestimate the amount of free time people have when they're in high school (vs when you have a family / intense job).
Having said that, even with unlimited time this is such an awesome achievement and really shows the dedication. Well done!
highmastdon
Don't underestimate the amount of knowledge you don't have to perfect things. I remember building scheduling software in PHP in high school, because I just fixed problem after problem, and I was not limited by any form of knowledge. If I'd have to do it again, I'd be perfecting the architecture, refactoring everything every other week...
dceddia
There’s a real double-edged sword to this whole “becoming a ‘better’ software engineer” thing. I remember just hacking stuff together when I was younger with not a care for whether I was doing it right or not. I just wanted to make it work.
I miss that feeling. It doesn’t come around as often now, but I still feel like I move fastest when I can shut off the part of my brain that’s been trained on years of online discourse about right and wrong ways to do things, and just… do them.
null
butlike
tbqh, I vividly remember rolling my eyes in high school when older people would say: "don't squander the free time you have; you'll wish you had it back someday..." and while I don't outright regret doing kid stuff and squandering the free time in high school as kids do, some days those sentiments ring out more true than others; today being one of them after seeing this video.
Good job, kid
helboi4
Yeah I did some crazy things when I was in school. Had so much time.
MonkeyClub
And energy... I do miss those days.
underdeserver
We all had time... Almost none of us built a laptop
endofreach
Yeah, that's a given. Everyone has only 24h of time per day. And everyone has different struggles.
This is an incredible achievement. And i really don't like, that your comment invited other people to jump onboard & comment in a way belittling the achievements– even if just implicitly, to make themselves feel better why a high-schooler is doing things like that.
If all that was really the main driver, HN frontpage should be flooded with projects made by high-schoolers. But it is not. It might be contributing factor.
Btw: Funnily enough, i would expect these type of excuses & self-comforting negativity from high-schoolers.
denysvitali
I'm not saying this in a negative way - but priorities shift in life (unfortunately).
I wish I had the time that I had back when I was in high school. The time part doesn't have anything to do with the skills though. At that age I would have never been able to do a similar thing - at my age I would probably struggle, but with enough time at hand I might achieve half of the project.
This is what makes this whole thing exceptional: this person is very talented and is using his free time to do great things - I appreciate that.
If my initial comment sounded like I was bragging I would do it too if I had more free time, it wasn't my intention. I actually am jealous that I get to spend less time on my side projects and I envy those who can build such cool stuff.
httpz
I sometimes wonder how many talented engineers top colleges are rejecting because they were busy working on real engineering projects like this than academics and test scores.
rTX5CMRXIfFG
Probably not a lot, kids who have the grit to work on projects like this are the ones most likely to succeed academically
pkolaczk
Unless they are forced to learn things that are uninteresting to them. I almost failed the high school entry exams because I dedicated more time to soldering electronic devices and programming computers rather than writing essays about Polish literature or memorizing dates of historical battles. Same thing with the final high school exams - it was a really close call. I felt like they gave me good scores on non-STEM subjects just because I already won some prizes in electronics / physics olympiads and brought some fame to the school, so kida got away with that but... it was stressful anyways.
lobsterthief
I disagree; I did similar projects like this in high school (not exactly like this; his is a true achievement). I did very well grade-wise and had a high GPA but I bombed the SAT because I didn’t understand that you didn’t lose the same number of points for questions you skipped. So the ones I didn’t have time to answer I just randomly selected, which resulted in a poor score.
I found out later:
1. How SAT scoring works 2. That you shouldn’t take the last SAT of the year since then you cannot retake it 3. I probably should’ve taken the ACT instead
I wish they’d prepared us in school for this, but they were too busy training us for standardized state testing since that determined their own budget.
Could I have gotten into MIT? Unsure; back at 18 I didn’t know MIT existed and this was early Internet times. It would have been nice if my high school mentioned it as an option.
In my case at least, doing projects like this and getting good grades didn’t automatically turn into attending any college I wanted. Either way, I ended up with a great career.
Anyways, kudos to the person who made this project!
f1shy
I’ve known few exemplars like this one. But at least 2. One made a flight simulator for 737 in the backyard that was used regularly by airline pilots to train. The other made a complete discrete FM stereo transmitter, mounted his own radio later. He was 16, and it was the early 90. So all from books.
Both guys brutally failed in the first year in the University. They dis not like theory, they wanted to make.
So… i dunno. 2 reference points there.
0xbadcafebee
Unless you aren't fit for traditional academic learning models.
I spent most of my young adulthood working on projects (not nearly as insanely technical as this! but) similar to this. But I dropped out of high school, didn't go to college, because none of them would teach me in a way, or a pace, that fit my learning disability or mental models. Luckily I had the drive to teach myself, and built a successful two-decade career, despite my parents and teachers telling me I'd fail and become homeless.
High school kids have insane potential, and can achieve truly amazing things. But often people disregard them and don't set them up for success. So many companies could hire really great engineers, even from high school, if they could just find the motivated ones and put them in a mentorship/apprenticeship program that aligned with their interests and ways of learning.
Nevermark
You really don’t want to see my pre-university grades.
I was on a mission, and I can’t do two things at once. So school was about efficiency. I got great grades wherever that took low effort. That only went so far.
After graduation, nowhere I wanted to be would have looked at me.
It took me a couple years after high school to find the right university, but my personal projects paid off.
Looking back, it was a gamble. But you don’t really choose those kinds of paths.
helboi4
I dunno. I only succeeded as a kid academically because of literally my IQ not because I had grit learnt from my projects. I pathologically hated being told what to do so the determination to do my own projects did not translate into anything assigned to me.
boesboes
Going from how many gifted children end up underperforming because they are made to do stupid things & then getting labeled as difficult or slow: a lot more then you'd think.
Being talented and gifted is generally not appreciated, not even in academia. Many of the most talented people never finish their education because academia is more about playing the game & having the grit (or lack of backbone?) to deal with the bullshit and do what you are told.
And tbf, the best engineers I know are not necessarily the most talented ones, but those that developed the grit to push through the bs.
makerdiety
[flagged]
dang
Would you please stop taking threads on flamewar tangents? Your comments in this thread have been inflammatory and offtopic. That's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.
If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
leoedin
This is an incredible achievement! I've been working in hardware design for 10 years. I've touched on most of what was covered here across various projects in my career, but never all at once. To have the discipline and motivation to carry a project like this through to completion is seriously impressive.
k8sToGo
This guy is in high school yet has been CEO and what not according to his LinkedIn?
What makes you think he is in high school
spicysev
He is a high school senior right now. He is one of my closes classmates and really devoted to such projects. It's mind blowing
lexicality
Bear in mind he's "CEO" of the underwater MATE ROV team at Phillips Exeter Academy, and if you scroll down a bit, it says that Phillips Exeter Academy is giving him a high school diploma.
k8sToGo
Thanks. That makes more sense!
t4TLLLSZ185x
The words "senior project". Which, fair enough, might mean different things in different parts of the world.
toobulkeh
Not just any high school. https://exeter.edu/
throwaway2037
Same high school as Zuck.
rozularen
Yeah... Just checked and disclaimer I'm not trying to diminish OP's achievement which is huge but ... https://exeter.edu/admissions/financial-aid/tuition-costs/
jmb99
Hilarious that there’s a separate sub-$1000 line item for books and supplies. If it’s that expensive, you can’t just throw in some pens and pencils with the tuition?
larodi
...back in the day we had this partner who emigrated from undisclosed_balkan_country to the USA in the 90s. 20 years later his daugther in her teens gets $20k funding from the school principal, for her pet fashion project (not even STEM!). Her school is not even a top one, just a private school somewhere in major USA city.
On the contrary, even though we've had top marks in the top math school in the same country, we'd never ever hoped to get even $200 for a project. Were we good enough to build a computer - of course, it's not that hard once you get the basics, and once you've done x86 assembly in your early teens. But it was just impossible to even think about spending the money, or loosing them per se.
Exeter Philips school has quote "700 acres, 147 buildings, the world's largest high school library". And I'm sure also lots of engineering development facilities where you can actually get your hands dirty. I can imagine the progress had I found myself there by some miracle. This kid is absolute winner to be in it, but I bet his parents must have also won the lottery ticket, one way or another, cause UK education is crazy expensive.
Now, in order to not make this story super sad, let's admit that, even though we as schoolkids didn't have access to such campus and funding, by last year in school I could track music with FT2; build Linux kernel and write ASM/C/C++/Perl; operated a BBS; debugged the IE9 source with VXDs and all; took part in writing two demoscene productions, that we still proud of; and finally, but not lest being a bunch of smart kinds in their 20s we started a hosting company in 1998(or '99) which soon handled the amount of traffic which equaled that of the whole country. This all with no GPTs, no Google searches, not even forums that much back then. So of course, it matters, that you are not a dumbass, after all.
But nobody ever gave us the security to pursue dreams the way this kid does. And I'm absolutely convinced we could've put together a laptop or something along the line. I say put together, because a lot of these parts are easily available now, one click away, nothing like what it was back in the day. He's not producing the chips, neither the screen, neither putting elements together, but the chassis and kbd, and does some wiring. Of course - fascinating for a teenager to do, but you see, teenagers are not so stupid, and never were. And those in top schools are particularly bright and outpace many adults in many areas. From the images I can tell this is a school projects, so perhaps it took also a little mentoring to do it.
This always make me think about two things - it absolutely matters which school you are lucky to have gone to; and very likely all talent is lost soon after high-school, because... reasons.
Palomides
yeah, it's a little bittersweet to see the adulation this is getting; I hope he has success in his academics and career, I got my first computer by dumpster diving parts.
dataflow
This is crazy. Hats off to you. My guess is you'll have recruiters knocking on your door yesterday, trying to grab you before the next one does. Whatever you do, don't let your talents go to waste (corporations can do that), and think about your long term success, not whatever they dangle in front of you for the short term. You're going places.
Hello9999901
Thank you so much for the heartfelt advice! I'll keep that close to heart :)
bboygravity
Tip from an experienced EE: try to avoid middle-men recruiters at all cost. Go straight to the company you want to work for. Or better yet in your case: start your own company :p
ValdikSS
By the way, you can tune boot times further. My print server board boots in 8 seconds to Debian 12 (bootloader + kernel + userspace).
1. Make sure the bootloader (u-boot) loads the kernel as fast as possible.
- Disable automatic Ethernet/USB/other subsystems initialization (you can keep them enabled, just don't activate unless requested in the shell manually by the user)
- Tune `distro_bootcmd` command
- Make sure that MicroSD/eMMC/SSD works full-speed (with proper clocks and speed protocol)
2. Use fast decompression algorithm for the kernel and initramfs
- It's either zstd or gzip
3. Collect boot file access data and sort the files on the filesystem
- The benefit in near-linear access & read-ahead
megous
Pinebook Pro boots in about 10s to DE and that's RK3399. Pretty sure RK3588 can boot even faster, considering the advantage of PCIe/nvme storage that can run at > 3GiB/s. Software load times stop being a constraint at those speeds.
My Orange Pi 5 Plus boots to sway+firefox already open in about 15s and a lot of it is waiting for net being online.
7.125s systemd-networkd-wait-online.servicelxe
This is one of those special HN posts that demonstrates outsized excellence on the author's behalf. Watched the video and I'm very impressed.
Hello9999901
Truly appreciate it thank you so much!! I poured my life and soul into this haha.
cbmamolo
You sure did!
petsfed
This is really cool!
There are some obvious next steps for improving the polish on this, would you say you were more resource constrained, time constrained, or skill constrained?
For instance, did you put any thought into making flex PCBs to make the cable routing easier?
I also think the concept of a laptop with a removable wireless keyboard is brilliant, and I think your implementation is a lot cleaner than e.g. the Surface or the iPad's case-keyboards. If I had a laptop that did that, it would be my go-to travel machine. One less thing to cart around.
Hello9999901
Hey! Thank you for the question. For sure, it's not a polished product and I don't mean for it to be. It works surprisingly well. (I've used it as my daily driver for school) With college apps and school work, the time was tight. I'd say that was the most limiting. Of course, resource and skill played its role. I did consider flex PCBs, but I didn't have the time to follow through with all the ambitions (i also wanted an FOC input sigh).
I'm honored that you think my keyboard implementation is nice! I put a lot of thought into it — truly. Oh btw the keyboard works just as well as a solo device. I've used the keyboard more than the computer in some ways. Thanks!
petsfed
If you keep this idea alive (and I hope you do!), you might consider shrinking the keyboard battery and designing its docking configuration so that it automatically charges from the main battery when stored in the laptop. A 3 month keyboard battery capacity seems sort of excessive when its mechanically part of a machine that charges daily.
I think one of the limitations to the keyboard concept you have is that it complicates using the laptop base as a stand for the screen in a tablet configuration. Outside of tablets with fully detachable keyboards (e.g. the Surface or the iPad pro), I don't think anybody has a good design for that. Was a touchscreen ever a consideration for stretch goals or design for expansion?
vidarh
Also loved the detachable keyboard (which has me fantasize about a detachable screen as well + external hdmi/displayport, as I hate the working positions I end up in with a laptop, so it'd be nice to be able to get a more comfortable setup in a hotel room etc. that still packages up to a laptop.
daquisu
Regarding a laptop with a removable wireless keyboard, ZenBook Duo has that, although the touchpad is removed with the keyboard.
It also has two screens and its own stand, I use it as my travel machine.
petsfed
Hmmm. That's also an interesting solution to the same problem. Although honestly, the scenario where I want to have a removable keyboard, I'm likely using an external display (probably a hotel TV), and a small wireless mouse is a lot easier to transport than a keyboard (and more ergonomic than a keyboard small enough for transport) so the extra screen and trackpad are sort of lost on me.
mschuster91
Holy. That's an achievement very few people can claim. Wonder if HN has a "hall of fame", a worthy entry.
You did the smart thing there with the SoM (for the uninitiated: power sequencing to individual parts of an SoC and its external components is an epic hassle to get right and that's assuming you actually have proper documentation - without it it's an utter pain), but how in hell did you get the high frequency stuff working out on what was likely your first or second try? This is IMHO where your work really shines.
USB-C, DisplayPort (at 4K to boot) and PCIe at modern speeds are all but black magic to most, this isn't digital any more, this is good old analog circuitry and physics at work that most people don't even learn in university any more.
Hello9999901
Thank you so much — yes, that was the hardest part of this entire project! I spent 2 months getting eDP working (second PCB thankfully).
I had the honor of learning high speed signaling from the best. I met some super cool people from Silicon Valley and research universities (from past work, like the MUREX Ethernet Switch). The ZMK Firmware community too!
mschuster91
> from past work, like the MUREX Ethernet Switch
Just looked it up... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40694254 for those who want a direct link.
Jesus. Wish I had had even a fraction your talent at that age. Most impressive.
Hello9999901
I truly appreciate your encouragement. I can only imagine how successful you are! Thank you!
redbell
I hardly know where to begin! This project is exceptional in every sense—a true masterpiece. Remarkably, its creator is still in high school, yet he’s already demonstrated brilliance beyond his years. The endorsements he’s received, the connections he’s begun to forge, and the incredible opportunities now within his reach are nothing short of extraordinary. As he himself put it, accomplishments like these are only possible when you believe deeply in your vision and persist relentlessly until the finish line. None of this would have been possible if he had given up before completing this remarkable work of art.
It’s posts like this, fueled by incredible community support, that make Hacker News not just great but unmatched.
With 2,000 points (and counting), this Show HN is currently ranked as the 4th-best Show HN of all time. If we exclude the #1 post (this upvotes itself)—which isn’t a true project—this post would be the 3rd-best of all time. Who knows? By tomorrow, it may surpass 2,741 points and claim the #1 spot outright.
Outstanding work, Bryan. All the best.
Hello9999901
Thank you redbell! It truly means a lot. I'm incredibly grateful of the reception and the support from everyone. HN <3
hn_throwaway_99
I'll just echo the amazement and congratulations of all the other comments. I do have a question though - your post stated "The hardest class I’ve taken so far was quantum mechanics in my junior spring term." Kudos to your educational system that allowed you to take quantum mechanics as a junior in high school - it looks like it clearly provided you a framework that allowed you to excel. Without giving away your privacy, is this some sort of special program where you live, or is it a standard opportunity?
Again, just gobsmacked by this entire project.
cbmamolo
He goes to Phillips Exeter Academy, where Zuckerberg once matriculated. Students' voices are heard through the Harkness method of teaching. There is plenty of opportunity for students to grow curricularly (e.g.,dynamic chaos theory in math, senior projects, though not required ...) and extra-curricularly (e.g. competition robotics, physics, bio,chem clubs, etc ...) which may not be a norm in most public or even private schools.
redbell
This is a follow-up to my comment above (since I can no longer edit it):
> By tomorrow, it may surpass 2,741 points and claim the #1 spot outright.
Indeed! I just woke up to find that the post has got 2,742 points which officially make it the best Show HN of all time! You can see the full list here: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=show+hn
Byran, you now have probably the best C.V. you can use for any job and you should be proud of yourself.
Congratulations!
Hello9999901
Thank you so so much!! I’m shocked and incredibly grateful. HN <3
dang
Just for amusement purposes (and in no way to diminish this amazing success), the most-upvoted Show HN remains:
Show HN: This up votes itself - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3742902 - March 2012 (82 comments)
But that one had the unfair advantage of, er, upvoting itself. Also, it was meta, so the upvoters were on crack (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...).
Byran's has reached #2, which makes it the most-upvoted in 13 years!
null
Hello! I'm Byran. I spent the past ~6 months engineering a laptop from scratch. It's fully open-source on GH at: https://github.com/Hello9999901/laptop