What you're missing is that these ports are actually USB C dongles. If one of the _original_ USB C ports dies, it's dead. Ie the hot swap ports basically connect to USB C ports built into the machine. It's a clever UX hack (which I'm totally for), but it's not solving the technical issue here.

For transparency I actually love the idea behind the Framework laptop, I've been hyped since January!

The expansion modules themselves are USB C dongles designed to fit flush in the case

If the internal USB C ports get damaged, presumably the device can be opened and repaired.

It would be extremely difficult to damage the internal USB-C ports on the mainboard itself. The USB-C Expansion Cards are what cables would be plugged into and cycled repeatedly, and our Expansion Card bays also have mechanical retention features that mean the insertion of the card itself is always aligned to avoid wear or damage.

They mention that several other such ports like the audio and power are easily replaceable so that seems a fair assumption. The modules are also track-mounted and appear to lock into place somehow, so it seems unlikely that the internal connection will suffer the same kind of torture an external port would.

What happens if the expansion port itself becomes damaged? Would you need to change out the motherboard?

AKA square, flushmount dongles.