The 702 Project

The 702 Project (also called the "compact personal computing unit 702") is a personal project by Maglev-Rabbit that builds an 11" 2-in-1 laptop combining an iPad with a Framework Laptop 13 mainboard and battery, using a butterfly keyboard inspired by the IBM ThinkPad 701C¹. The project started in 2022 and has been in active prototyping since, with design files published on GitHub under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license¹².

The device is physically and logically divided into two halves: an ARM side (the iPad, providing display, webcam, speaker, and microphone) and an x86 side (the Framework 13 mainboard, battery, keyboard, and I/O)¹. The iPad is hot-swappable — detach it for tablet mode, reattach it for laptop mode — making the 702 a true dual-system device¹.

Prototype / In Development

This project is in the early prototype phase. The author states that "everything is subject to change" and only files that have been printed and proven to work have been open-sourced¹.

Design Philosophy

The author's goal was to build "the ideal laptop" by combining the best hardware and software available: an iPad for media consumption (best monitor, webcam, speaker, microphone, and battery efficiency) paired with an x86 motherboard for computing versatility and a Windows environment¹. The Framework 13 mainboard was chosen because it was "the only open source one available with the best performance figure and upgradability"¹.

The butterfly keyboard was chosen for two reasons: the author's love of ThinkPads and the 701C's classic design, and the practical constraint that there is limited space for a full-sized keyboard on an 11" chassis¹. A palm rest was added after the first keyboard prototype in 2024, synchronized with the keyboard's motion to house the keyswitches when the lid is closed and provide proper typing height when open¹.

Two-Half Architecture

ARM Side (A Side)

• iPad — provides display, webcam, speaker, microphone¹
• ThinkPad-inspired features — ThinkLight, lid lock¹
• Structure — shell, lock, latch¹

x86 Side (B Side)

• Framework 13 — mainboard + battery¹
• Keyboard — expansion system, custom PCB¹
• I/O — ports, custom PCBs¹
• Structure — shell, rollcage, chassis, palm rest¹

The two sides are linked physically by ports and locks, and linked on the software level, making the iPad hot-swappable¹.

Usage Modes

Mode	Description
Tablet mode (iPad)	Detach the lid and use it as an iPad for note-taking, sketching, reading, and content consumption1
Laptop mode (Framework)	Reattach the iPad to the base and use as a normal laptop for Windows productivity tasks1

Distinction from the ThinkPad 701C Framework Transplant

The 702 Project is frequently confused with the ThinkPad 701C Framework Transplant by Karl Buchka (basketofkittens), but they are fundamentally different projects¹³:

Aspect	The 702 Project	ThinkPad 701C Framework Transplant
Chassis	Completely new custom design1	Original IBM ThinkPad 701C chassis3
Keyboard	New butterfly keyboard inspired by 701C1	Original 701C keyboard via QMK/Teensy3
Display	Complete iPad (as a device)1	iPad 7 display panel only (via eDP)3
Form factor	11" 2-in-1, hot-swappable tablet1	~10" clamshell laptop3
TrackPoint	Not included	Original 701C TrackPoint II3
Author	Maglev-Rabbit1	Karl Buchka (basketofkittens)3

Future Ideas

The author has outlined several aspirational features for future development¹:

• Using the PC's keyboard as input for the iPad
• File transfer between the two devices (Airdrop for PC)
• Wireless display connection between iPad and PC
• Split-screen iPad usage while using the laptop
• Using the laptop to charge the iPad
• OCuLink and docking station support

Development Status

The project is in early concept-proving and prototyping. The repository contains Prototype_1 and Prototype_2 directories, and weekly progress updates are posted in GitHub Discussions¹. As of April 2026, the palm rest and keyboard work with the lid mechanism¹.

Technical Specifications

Specification	Details
Form factor	11" 2-in-1 (Windows/iPadOS)1
Compute	Framework Laptop 13 mainboard1
Display	iPad (full device, hot-swappable)1
Battery	Framework Laptop 13 stock battery1
Keyboard	Custom butterfly keyboard (ThinkPad 701C-inspired)1
ARM side	iPad (display, webcam, speaker, microphone)1
x86 side	Framework 13 mainboard + battery, keyboard, I/O1
License	CC BY-NC-SA 4.02
GitHub Stars	531
Source	Maglev-Rabbit/702_Project_Public (GitHub)1

Related Projects

• ThinkPad 701C Framework Transplant — Karl Buchka's project installing a Framework 13 mainboard into an actual ThinkPad 701C chassis (distinct from the 702 Project's custom chassis)
• Framework Tablet — Another tablet-style build using a Framework 13 mainboard
• Framework Cyberdeck — Custom slab-style portable PC from Framework 13 parts

Footnotes

1. Maglev-Rabbit/702_Project_Public — GitHub (README, project description, prototype files) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷

2. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License — Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International ↩ ↩²

3. Thinkpad 701C with a Framework brain transplant (work in progress) — Framework Community (Karl_Buchka, February 2023 – July 2025) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷