Framework has done it again — it’s built a new AMD-powered modular computer that fits into any previous version of its 13-inch laptop for $449, or that you can buy as a brand-new laptop starting at $899 for DIY or $1,099 entirely prebuilt for you. If you’re reading these words, I’m currently at Framework’s event, where I’m checking it out alongside the just-announced tiny Framework Desktop and possibly the new budget touchscreen convertible Framework Laptop 12.
This 13-inch machine is the company’s second with AMD processors, this time featuring the new-ish Ryzen AI 300 “Strix Point” chips in Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7, all the way up to the Ryzen 9 HX 370 with 12 CPU cores, half-decent portable gaming chops and 50 TOPS of AI performance. And yes, that makes this Framework’s first Copilot Plus PC.
The changes don’t stop there: Framework says its second AMD laptop gets all the big upgrades of last year’s Intel Core Ultra model, including the optional 2.8K 120Hz screen and presumably the better webcam.
While you don’t get four fully functional Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 ports like you do on Intel models, you can now power four external displays from each of its four ports, up from three on the last AMD, in addition to new Wi-Fi 7, a new cooling system with a single larger 10mm heatpipe like last year’s Core Ultra model (up from twin 5mm heatpipes) with Honeywell PTM7958 phase change thermal interface material, and “a new key structure on the wide keys (e.g. spacebar and shift) that reduces buzzing when your speakers are cranked up.”
They’ve got a plastic structure that spans the full width of the key instead of metal linkages, and says they’ve been thoroughly tested, joking that there’d be no Apple Butterfly Keyboard issues in Framework’s future.
Speaking of the keyboard, it does have Microsoft’s mandatory Copilot key if you buy it as a prebuilt Windows 11 laptop — but you can ditch that if you buy DIY! (Which I’d recommend unless you really need a preinstalled copy of Windows or are quite squeamish, as even Framework’s DIY machines are mostly prebuilt anyhow.)
Lastly, Framework’s now offering translucent bezels, including new colors purple, green, and black, and matching translucent USB-C expansion cards too.
The new Framework Laptop 13 boards and laptops should be available to order today, shipping in April, and Framework says it’s reducing the price of its previous-gen AMD notebooks, as usual, as these new machines roll out.
At the beginning of today’s Framework event in San Francisco, CEO Nirav Patel says he believes Framework is now the fastest growing laptop brand, and “probably the only company that can announce a product that looks the same four years in a row and get cheers.”
“We’re proving it’s possible to build a company around product longevity by actually doing it,” he says.
