If you want the thinnest Razer gaming laptop, you'll need to pay a little more.

Huawei just launched a super sleek folding laptop that might be as thin as your phone. The MateBook Fold, which consists of a single OLED display, is just 7.3mm (~0.3 inches) thick when unfolded and 14.9mm (~0.6 inches) when closed, as spotted earlier by Android Headlines.

To compare, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold measures 8.6mm (0.34 inches) thick unfolded and 17.4mm (0.68 inches) when folded. But unlike Lenovo’s device, the MateBook Fold is only available in China for now, with a price of around $3,300.

The MateBook Fold’s 18-inch display folds at a 90-degree angle to form a 13-inch upper screen, mimicking a traditional laptop with a digital keyboard instead of a physical one. The device weighs just 1.16kg (~2.6lbs), with its tandem OLED offering a 3.3K (3296 x 2472) resolution and a peak brightness of up to 1600 nits. The laptop also comes with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

This also marks the debut of Huawei’s in-house operating system, called HarmonyOS 5, on PC. Huawei first launched HarmonyOS on Android, but it has since brought its operating system to PCs after losing access to Microsoft Windows in March due to US sanctions. In addition to coming with the MateBook Fold, the system is available on the new MateBook Pro as well.

Asus is updating three of its gaming laptop lines with configurations featuring the new GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, offering features like Multi Frame Generation for higher framerates at slightly lower prices. Nvidia’s mid-range graphics are coming to the beefy ROG Strix G16 and G18, ROG Zephyrus G14 hybrid gaming / creativity laptop, and the entry-level TUF Gaming A14, A16, A18, and F16. 

That’s seven new laptops from Asus. And with the 5060 becoming the new entry-level card for each line, the new configs can be around $300 to $400 cheaper than their 5070 versions. Prices on the new 5060 models are as low as $1,499.99 to slightly higher configurations (with faster CPUs, more RAM, and more storage) as pricey as $2,099.99.

That low $1,499.99 and high $2,099.99 both lie in the ROG Strix G16. The Strix G16 and G18 look much like stripped-down versions of their pricier Strix Scar counterparts, with 16- and 18-inch 2560 x 1600 240Hz displays and the same wraparound RGB light bars built into their chassis. Though, the more simplified Strix G models have IPS panels instead of Mini LED, and no fancy lid with animated LEDs. The new RTX 5060-equipped G16 and G18 are offered with Intel (Raptor Lake Refresh / Arrow Lake) and AMD (Dragon Range / Fire Range) chip options, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage. 

As Strix laptops are bulky machines (weighing as much as seven pounds in the 18-inch model), they’re loaded with ports, including HDMI 2.1, ethernet, 3.5mm audio jack, five total USB ports for Intel models (three USB-A, one USB-C, and one Thunderbolt 4), and four total USB ports for AMD configs (two USB-A and two USB4).

The new Asus TUF Gaming laptops also come in a variety of sizes and flavors, all now equipped with less costly RTX 5060 configurations than just their current RTX 5070 configurations. Like the Strix G models, the TUFs are fairly chunky gaming-focused laptops but they make some sacrifices for the sake of reaching certain price points, like lower 144Hz and 165Hz refresh rates and the TUF A18 having an ancient USB 2.0 plug among its five total USB ports. (Heresy, I know.)

At $1,599.99 there’s the 18-inch TUF A18 and 16-inch TUF F16. The A18 comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 260 (Hawk Point) CPU and the F16 has an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (Arrow Lake). The TUF A14 and TUF A16 are next up at $1,699.99, with the 14-inch packing an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (the same Krackan Point chip I recently tested on the Framework Laptop 13) and the 16-inch getting the same Ryzen 7 260 as its bigger 18-inch sibling.

The simplest update is for Asus’s ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop, which is getting a $1,799.99 configuration with RTX 5060 graphics. The Zephyrus is Asus’s thinner gaming laptop that leans a little more towards the conventional, lending itself to traveling and not looking totally out of place in a cafe or library.

The laptop still looks as it did when the G14 was redesigned back in early 2024, with a 14-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display, AMD Ryzen AI 9 270 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, one USB4, one USB-C, two USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Just as the recently refreshed models from CES using higher-end RTX 50-series GPUs, its USB-C ports got a tiny upgrade that allows you to use Power Delivery charging on either side. But, of course, if you want to get the most graphics power out of this compact gaming laptop you’ll have to plug in its hefty charger with reversible proprietary connector.

Since all of these laptops are equipped with the RTX 5060, they’re compatible with Nvidia’s DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation. While some models are available now through Asus’s online store and select retailers, the full availability of all configs is expected through June.

Razer is making its Blade 14 thinner and more powerful, just like it did recently with its 16-inch counterpart. In addition to giving it an RTX 5060 GPU with a starting price of $2,299.99, the Blade 14 can be specced out with the RTX 5070 for $2,699.99. Razer says it isn’t limiting that 5070 in this thin chassis, as it can deliver its maximum TGP of 115W.

Both the 5060 and 5070 versions of the Blade 14 are expected to launch in May, and Razer is also introducing a lower-cost Blade 16 with the RTX 5060 for $2,399.99 — due out this month as well.

The Blade 14 will have an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU and a 14-inch 3K 120Hz OLED display in all configurations, as well as per-key RGB lighting with customizable Razer Chroma compatibility. It can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. Sadly, the RAM is soldered in, but the single NVMe SSD slot is user-accessible if you want to put in a larger drive. The ports are mostly the same as last gen, with two USB4, two USB 3.2 Type-A, HDMI 2.1, reversible proprietary power plug, and 3.5mm combo audio jack, but it adds a UHS-II microSD slot.

What’s also changed for the 2025 Blade 14 is that it’s 11 percent thinner and 11 percent lighter than its predecessor. That translates to a laptop that’s 0.62 to 0.64 inches (15.7 mm to around 16.2 mm) thick from its thinnest to thickest points, and it weighs 3.59 pounds / 1.63 kg. Razer says it was able to make the Blade 14 thinner without sacrificing power or battery life (it’s still got a 72Whr cell) by redesigning its thermal shelf and cooling design — just like it did the Blade 16.

The Blade 14 looks a lot like a slightly shrunken-down Blade 16, following its bigger sibling’s redesign to a T. Well, mostly, as its microSD slot feels like a slight downgrade compared to the 16’s full-size SD. But even microSD is better than no slot at all. One differentiator of the Blade 14 is that it will be available in white as well as Razer’s typical matte black.

I thoroughly enjoyed my recent time testing the Blade 16. It’s unsurprising that the Blade 14 is copy-pasting many of the same changes to be an even more portable hybrid gaming / content-creation machine, and remaining a noteworthy competitor to Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14.

The Acer Triton 14 AI is a gaming laptop that actually puts creatives first.

Acer is announcing a whole slew of new laptops at the Computex 2025 computer show in Taiwan, including the Swift Edge 14 AI that weighs half a pound less than the MacBook Air, and the Predator Triton 14 AI for a mix of both gaming and content creation. There are over a dozen new models from Acer, many using some of the latest chips from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, and a couple examples running Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Windows on Arm. There are also some new gaming and creator-focused monitors to go with them all. 

The new laptops stretch across the wide Acer range of notebooks, like the Predator and Nitro lines (gaming), the Swifts (general purpose laptops — not Swifties), and Aspire (the cheapest of the cheap). Like Lenovo, Acer isn’t announcing US pricing or availability for any of its new products just yet — that’s reserved for regions like Europe. Details for the US are expected closer to their eventual release, no doubt thanks to the ongoing back-and-forth with tariffs.

The Swift Edge 14 AI is one of Acer’s new laptops I find particularly intriguing. It’s a 14-inch Copilot Plus PC (like all the models Acer brands with “AI” in the name) with Intel’s Lunar Lake chip options, a 2880 x 1800 OLED display, and up to 32GB of RAM / 1TB SSD. It’s also just 0.37- to 0.65-inches thick (from its thinnest to thickest points), and weighs slightly under 2.2 pounds. For comparison, the M4 MacBook Air is 0.44-inches thick from front to back and weighs 2.7 pounds. The Swift Edge is obviously following the Air’s mold, but Acer manages to fit two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and even an HDMI 2.1 port in such a small and light chassis. It’s expected to start at €1,599 (about $1,800) in Europe with availability beginning in June.

On the gaming side, Acer made a fairly big deal in my briefing call about the upcoming Predator Triton 14 AI. Unlike thicker gaming laptops that are purely gaming-focused, the Triton seems poised to compete with more portable models like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighs around 3.5 pounds and measures just 0.68 inches at its thickest point, so it’s meant to easily go places. It’s got a 14.5-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display that should be fit for both games and content creation, as well as a jumbo-sized haptic trackpad that supports an included stylus. Chip-wise, it’s got an Intel Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 288V processor and a GPU up to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070, with compatibility for Nvidia Studio drivers. But it won’t come cheap, with a starting price of €2,999 (about $3,350) when it launches in Europe in July.

Other upcoming laptops from Acer include the Aspire 14 AI / 16 AI (each configurable with AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm chips), Swift Go 14 AI and Swift Go 16 AI (the cheaper entries in the thin-and-light Swift line), and the Predator Helios Neo 14 (a lower-cost entry in Acer’s flagship gaming line).

For monitors, Acer has a pair of 27-inch QD-OLEDs, with its flagship Predator X27 X able to hit 240Hz at 4K and the 2560 x 1440 X27U F5 able to hit a very high 500Hz. They’re expected to run €1,099 (about $1,230) and €899 ($1,000), respectively, when they arrive in Q3. There are also lower-cost 32-inch and 34-inch Nitro monitors, and rounding out the non-gamer offerings are a 6K ProCreator PE320QXT and a line of portable monitors.

Acer is flooding the zone with new laptops, as it often does. We’ll have to see what US pricing and availability are like as each of them gets closer to release.

I tried really hard to work in augmented reality, but things didn't go so smoothly.

Schools across the US are warning parents about an Internet trend that has students purposefully trying to damage their school-issued Chromebooks so that they start smoking or catch fire.

Various school districts, including some in Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington, have sent letters to parents warning about the trend that’s largely taken off on TikTok.

Per reports from school districts and videos that Ars Technica has reviewed online, the so-called Chromebook Challenge includes students sticking things into Chromebook ports to short-circuit the system. Students are using various easily accessible items to do this, including writing utensils, paper clips, gum wrappers, and pushpins.

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Alienware is introducing a pair of new, more affordable gaming laptops: the Aurora 16 and 16X, starting at $1,149 and $1,949, respectively. Unlike the flagship Area-51 laptops announced back at CES, the Auroras are meant to be a little more versatile, portable, and comfortable for general laptop use. They replace the older Alienware M, X, and cheaper Dell G lines — which will be slowly phased out as part of Dell’s streamlining of its product lines. 

Some configurations of the Aurora 16 and 16X are launching today in North America, with additional models arriving later.

The duo of indigo-colored 16-inch laptops are lighter, smaller, and cheaper than the 16- and 18-inch Area-51 models. They’re still pretty hefty at around 5.5 to 5.86 pounds, but much lighter compared to the 7.6 to 10 pounds of the Area-51. And the new models even have a stealth mode button that switches the RGB lighting to a simpler white light and tones down the fans. The Auroras get their name from one of Alienware’s desktop lines, but they’re meant to be taken places, as the 16 and 16X were designed to fit in a backpack thanks to a lack of thermal shelf (the big butt behind the hinge many gaming laptops have). Instead, the Auroras have a protruding bump beneath their chassis where their fans pull in air.

Spec-wise, both laptops have 16-inch displays, but the Aurora 16 has a 300-nit 120Hz 2560 x 1600 IPS panel, while the 16X has the same resolution but gets up to 500 nits and 240Hz refresh rate. The Auroras have two USB-A, two USB-C, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, a proprietary power plug, and Wi-Fi 7. Each has its ports on the left and rear, freeing up the right side for unhindered mouse movements while gaming. One of the USB-C ports on the 16X gets faster Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 2.1 instead of just USB 3.2 Gen 2.

Both laptops can be outfitted with up to an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, but for CPUs, the 16 gets Intel “Raptor Lake Refresh” chips — based on architecture from 2022 — while the 16X has the latest Intel “Arrow Lake” configurations up to the Core Ultra 9 275HX. While the Aurora 16 starts at a very low price that’s more akin to a MacBook Air, its starting config has a two-generations-old RTX 3050 GPU and just 8GB of RAM. That’s a pretty old GPU for a new laptop in mid-2025 and a shockingly low amount of RAM for any Windows notebook above $1,000, let alone a gaming laptop. Even Apple’s base models now give you more. The Aurora 16 can of course be purchased with more RAM than that, and the 16X starts with a more respectable 16GB and RTX 5060.

Dell-owned Alienware is angling these new models at gamers on a budget or those who can only justify one device for both play and work (or school). I just can’t help finding it funny that, between Alienware and its parent company Dell, it’s actually Alienware with the clearer and more pleasant-sounding naming scheme. Somehow, the try-hard gaming brand with an alien head logo understands that names are better than a mishmash of Plus, Premium, Pro, and Max.

Lenovo is announcing a new 10th-generation Legion 9i gaming laptop coming soon to China and scheduled for the fall in North America. The 18-inch behemoth is packed with top-end specs, including the option for a 4K-capable 2D / 3D screen, Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, up to 192GB of RAM, and 8TB of SSD storage.

How much will an over-the-top configuration like that cost? Nobody can say, as Lenovo isn’t talking pricing at all yet — not even the starting price for the base model with a 4K, non-3D screen. But when the time comes you won’t have to rely solely on Lenovo to build the configuration to your liking, as the four RAM slots and four SSD slots are user-accessible.

The optional 2D / 3D LCD can display 3840 x 2400 resolution at up to 240Hz in 2D mode or 1920 x 1200 in 3D mode. The screen also has a dual mode akin to the Razer Blade 18, allowing up to an ultrafast 440Hz when displaying 2D content in 1920 x 1080. Viewing 3D content on the Legion 9i’s screen doesn’t require glasses, as it uses eye-tracking and a lenticular lens array to appear 3D to the naked eye. Lenovo says the Legion 9i is designed for game developers, visual artists, and 3D professionals as well as spendy gamers. In addition to displaying 3D content and renders, Lenovo says its software supports 30 games playable in 3D, including Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth: Wukong, Forza Horizon 5, Genshin Impact, and God of War Ragnarök.

As you’d expect from a desktop replacement-class laptop, the Legion 9i has a bunch of ports, including two Thunderbolt 5 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (three Type-A and one Type-C), an ethernet port, HDMI 2.1, and even a full-size SD card slot. For connectivity, it’s got Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support. If you go for the 2D screen the 5-megapixel webcam has an f/2 aperture, though the 3D screen option comes with a faster f/1.6 lens — and both webcams feature a kill switch on the side of the laptop for privacy.

The laptop itself has a pretty unique look thanks to its carbon fiber lid. Lenovo says each Legion 9i’s lid is made from eight layers of carbon fiber, making it “lighter and stronger than aluminum.” But any weight savings aside, the coolest aspect of this carbon fiber creation is the visible pattern on the lid — which Lenovo says is slightly different and one-of-a-kind on each unit.

We may not know how much the Legion 9i costs just yet, but that lid instantly makes it one of the most interesting jumbo-sized gaming laptops in my book. At least, as far as ones not adorned with dragons go.

Update, May 8th: Added examples of the 3D-supported games the Legion 9i will support.

China has finally agreed to open negotiations with the Trump administration as the tech industry warns that tariffs could soon spike Americans' costs for the 10 most popular consumer technology products by more than $123 billion annually.

On Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in the US announced on X (formerly Twitter) that "China’s lead on China-US economic and trade affairs," He Lifeng, will meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from May 9 to 12 to open talks. For those talks to go smoothly, China's Ministry of Commerce told reporters Wednesday, the US must "demonstrate sincerity" and come ready to "correct its wrongdoings," including facing "the severe negative impacts of its unilateral tariff measures on itself and the world."

Previously, China had demanded that President Trump drop all tariffs to begin negotiations, which Trump refused while seemingly holding out on making a deal on TikTok to keep the potential bargaining chip.

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MSI's TItan 18 HX gaming laptop is the desktop replacement that comes extremely close to the power (and obscene cost) of an actual desktop PC.

The Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 is a gaming laptop, and it sure looks like one. It's an inch thick, weighs 5.5 pounds, and is awash in RGB lighting, stylized text, and curved plastic.

This Aorus Master offers powerful hardware and a lovely high-res, high-refresh OLED display. It's the first of several laptops we're reviewing with the GeForce RTX 5080, Nvidia's second-fastest laptop graphics card of this generation. At $3,100, it's actually a few hundred dollars less than similarly powerful models from Razer, Lenovo, and Asus, and over a thousand dollars less than laptops with the RTX 5090, Nvidia's fastest GPU.

But in exchange for being a little cheaper than its direct competitors, the Aorus Master feels a little cheap, and its built-in software includes a useless AI chatbot but no custom fan controls. And those fans get loud.

Like the Razer Blade 16, the Aorus Master 16 comes with a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 OLED display. The Aorus's panel isn't quite as accurate as the Blade's - with slightly lower color reproduction - but it's just as bright and about as pleasing to the eye in regular use. It's got punchy colors that aren't oversaturated, and its 2.5K resolution and maximum 240Hz r …

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If I knew how much I’d end up loving my Logitech mice, I would’ve taken better care of them from the start. The MX Master 3S and Lift are my favorite mice for productivity, but their rubber coating can get grimy quickly. My white MX Master 3S looks especially shameful atop my desk, so I’ve been considering purchasing a replacement for a while.

Overturning my plans, though, Logitech recently raised prices across 51 percent of its portfolio, as detailed by YouTube channel Cameron Doughterty Tech. The firm has raised prices by as much as 25 percent.

The MX Master 3S I just mentioned is now $120, which is $20 more than before. That 20 percent increase makes it even harder to justify a new mouse, which I already considered a luxury purchase.

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Few gaming laptops stand out like Razer’s Blades. They’ve long been the gaming alternative to the MacBook Pro: sleek, powerful, and grown-up looking, without the bulk and garish stylings of most gaming laptops. But cramming powerful graphics cards into slim confines means Blade laptops have a tendency to run hot, get loud, and carry ridiculous price tags.

So you’d be excused for feeling anxious that the 2025 Blade 16, which offers Nvidia’s most powerful laptop GPU, is 30 percent thinner and significantly lighter than its predecessor. In my initial testing, it only seemed a little more powerful than the 4090 Blade it replaces.

But now I’ve used it much more extensively. I’ve even tested it against cheaper, thicker RTX 5080 laptops with more cooling capacity, which are the better buy if you’re focused squarely on gaming performance. However, nothing quite matches the Blade 16’s balance of top-end specs, thin chassis with all-black aesthetics, and a lovely OLED screen I’d happily stare at all day.

The 2025 Blade 16 is just 0.69 inches at its thickest (0.59 inches at the front) and weighs 4.6 pounds. That isn’t just thinner and lighter than last year’s 0.87-inch / …

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Razer is selling laptops on its site again after a recent and sudden halt.

In what seemed like a response to ongoing tariff tumult, the US Razer site had quietly pulled its Blade laptops from direct sales, including its new Blade 16 with Nvidia’s 50-series GPUs. Things seemed normal in other regions like Canada. But even after a week of paused sales and Reddit posts discussing Blade 16 preorders getting held up in US Customs, however, Razer never responded to The Verge’s inquiries about what’s going on.

Now, some configurations of the 2025 Blade 16 have reappeared for US residents, though not all Blade laptops have returned to Razer’s US online store.

Before the sales pause, there were still 2024 Blade 16 models available, as well as preorders for the Blade 18. Now, those are nowhere to be seen for US customers.

Also, the 2025 Blade 16 is only available for immediate purchase with the RTX 5080 GPU. The entry-level RTX 5070 Ti and flagship RTX 5090 configurations are only listed with “notify me” buttons.

And even more curious: the 5090 config is limited to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage for $4,899.99, but the review spec that Razer sent us for testing with 32GB / 1TB for $4,499.99 isn’t available.

What’s also still unavailable is any pricing on the new Razer Adjustable Laptop Stand. But on the Canadian Razer site, you can find that stand with a $99.99 price, as well as the review spec of the 5090 Blade 16 and preorders for the Blade 18.

We’ve reached out to Razer to try and get clarification about what’s going on.

On the outside, Framework’s new Laptop 13 looks about the same as it has for the past four years. But the modular, upgradable, easily-repairable laptop has changed plenty where it counts: on the inside. It’s getting a chip bump for 2025, which would normally be pretty boring for any other laptop. But for the Framework, an improvement for new users is also an upgrade for anyone who’s bought one since 2021.  

That’s the beauty of a Framework: A new model means a whole new processor and main board you can drop into the computer you already own.

Now equipped with AMD Ryzen AI 300-series chips, the Laptop 13 continues to deliver on a longshot promise Framework made years ago, offering a laptop that allows you to pick your ports and replace nearly every component — from RAM and the SSD to a different keyboard, small cosmetic touches, and even a new screen. Its design may be nearly unchanged, but where other laptops make us feel lucky to get a user-accessible M.2 SSD slot, the Framework 13 allows you to build to your own spec.

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Framework 13 now feels like a laptop that's more than a modular, repairable novelty. It's now a device that's a joy to both build and use.

Earlier this year, modular computer company Framework began a quest to fix “entry-level laptops” with the Framework Laptop 12, its first 12-inch laptop and its first 2-in-1 touchscreen PC. And as you might expect, Trump’s new US tariffs are making entry-level pricing difficult for Framework, which at least briefly delayed US preorders of the new Laptop 12 and paused sales on its other cheapest machines.

But tariffs or no, the new Framework Laptop 12 won’t exactly be cheap.

Framework has now opened Laptop 12 pre-orders in the US on Thursday starting at $549, after opening them for the UK, Europe, and Canada at €569/£499/$719 CAD a day earlier.

Those prices are hundreds less than Framework’s other DIY laptops, but a good bit higher than today’s entry-level Windows laptops and Chromebooks even before you consider that price doesn’t include storage, memory, ports, or an operating system. If you want those preinstalled, the machines start at $799 US, €849, £749, and $1,079 CAD respectively, which is getting close to what Framework charges for its Laptop 13.

As usual, you pay more for Framework because you believe in repairability and upgrades, ones that might even save you money down the road. To date, Framework is the only company that’s delivered on the promise of a fully upgradable laptop, to the point you can even take its earliest Intel-based model and put a brand-new AMD motherboard and chip inside. We were also impressed with the Laptop 12’s colorful and friendly design!

But with the Framework Laptop 12, you’re also paying for a 2-in-1 backflipping touchscreen rather than the latest chips. At $549 or £499, it starts with a six-core 13th Gen Intel Core i3-1315U from 2023, with a 10-core i5-1334U available for $150 or £150 more. The $799/£749 prebuilt model starts with the same i3 chip, 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and you’ll pay $250/£200 more ($1049/£949) to upgrade to the i5 and 16GB of memory.

$799 and $1,049 machines aren’t exactly entry-level for the United States, and my colleague Jess Weatherbed assures me that similarly spec’d laptops can be had for anywhere between £400 and £600 in the UK. In either locale, you can find more powerful thin-and-light machines available at the prices that Framework’s asking today. Again, repairability and modularity aren’t free.

Framework isn’t yet selling the color-matched stylus with removable battery it showed off as a companion to this Laptop 12; that will go on sale “soon” and you’ll have to buy it separately. But you can also use any USI 2.0 or MPP 2.0-compatible stylus, the company says, with support for both Windows and Linux.

Speaking of colors, it appears that the prebuilt Laptop 12 will only be available in black for now. You’ll have to choose the mostly preassembled “DIY” version to get cute colors like the mint and pink model.

The DIY and prebuilt models should ship in June and July, respectively, Framework wrote Wednesday, but I’m seeing that new buyers will get their machines in July or later. The June batch sold out less than an hour after preorders went live, though buyers who wish to donate $250 to Hack Club can get their preorder bumped to June for the black color of the laptop.

Update, April 10th: Updated now that Framework has also put the US version on preorder.

Thanks to Framework, one of the most transparent computer companies out there, we now have a sterling example of just how ridiculous President Donald Trump’s tariffs can make life in the year 2025.

Today, the company made all of its computers more expensive. Then, it almost immediately reversed that to bring its computers back to their original prices, in real time, all because Trump posted to social media that he was instituting a tariff pause less than a day after his new tariffs began. Then, Framework clarified that some price increases will still apply on China-made components.

Here’s the timeline of events:

• At 12:01AM ET Wednesday, Trump’s new tariffs went into effect, including an incredible 104 percent tariff on China and a 32 percent tariff on Taiwan.
• At 12:30PM ET, Framework announced a 10 percent price hike on all its computers, one it never thought it would need to introduce because it doesn’t make computers in China. (It does make them in Taiwan.)
• At 1:18PM ET, just over 12 hours after the new tariffs were officially in place, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries but an increased 125 percent rate for China.
• At 1:48PM ET, Framework announced that nope, actually, it’s bringing prices back to normal.
• At 3:43PM ET, Framework announced that some prices will still reflect increased tariffs on China.

Live view of the Framework team: pic.twitter.com/AFVqKvhwwA

— Framework (@FrameworkPuter) April 9, 2025

Things are still a bit convoluted, but here’s the general lay of the land: since Trump is still imposing 10 percent tariffs on Taiwan, Framework will continue a pause on selling some of its cheapest laptop configurations “where we’re unable to absorb the remaining 10% tariff.” Additionally, some of Framework’s made-in-China modules now cost more, like $15 for a USB-C port rather than $9, or $49 for an Ethernet card rather than $39 — and Framework says systems that ship with those modules will see those same price increases.

A 10 percent price hike wasn’t the only change Framework made in response to Trump’s tariffs. This very morning, Framework delayed opening preorders for its new entry-level Framework Laptop 12 in the United States even as it put it on sale in other territories. (Here’s my new story about that machine.)

You can read more about Framework’s thought process on the tariffs in its likely-soon-to-be-revised blog post published earlier today, where it initially promised to absorb part of the increased cost. While it builds systems in Taiwan, Framework says that many of its modular components are still manufactured in China where Trump’s tariffs are strongest, and it’s possible that prices for those will continue to go up.

Here is that whole original blog post for posterity, as written by Framework CEO Nirav Patel:

As a result of the new tariffs that were announced last week, we have a series of unfortunate price and availability adjustments we need to make for US customers. We manufacture most of our products in Taiwan, for which we now face a new 32% import tariff into the US. We’re absorbing part of this cost temporarily, and we are increasing prices on in-stock laptops and new system pre-orders by approximately 10% for US customers. For our lowest-priced configurations, where we can’t afford to absorb the tariffs, we’re currently pausing sales to the US. We’re also delaying the pre-order launch of Framework Laptop 12 in the US. We’re continuing to monitor changes to tariffs, and we will make additional adjustments if needed. For non-US customers, there is currently no tariff impact, and we’re keeping the same pricing and availability of our products.

First, I want to acknowledge that this sucks, for you, for us, and for our mission to remake Consumer Electronics. We will get through it. This isn’t the first challenge we’ve faced, and it won’t be the last one. We’ll navigate through and keep focused on delivering great products and fulfilling this mission. We’re going to remain open and transparent throughout and try to bring clarity to a messy situation wherever we can.

Next, let’s go into more detail on the specific changes we’re making. Our Framework Laptops, Mainboards, Framework Desktop, and a subset of our modules are made in Taiwan, which means they are now impacted by a 32% import tariff to the US. Those are the products we’re increasing pricing on by 10% in the US, and we may need to increase this further if tariffs persist. Many of our modules are currently manufactured in China, where we face between 104% and 129% (!!!) tariffs. On those modules, we’re also absorbing part of the tariff and increasing pricing, depending on the category. Our Western Digital storage is manufactured in Malaysia, which now faces a 24% tariff. We’ve also increased storage pricing by up to 10%, but recommend that you purchase it elsewhere for your DIY Edition if possible, like directly from the Western Digital website.

These changes are going into effect now in the US for both in-stock orders and for new pre-orders. We’re enacting tariff absorption along with price increases as a temporary measure while we track the evolving situation around tariffs. In the event tariffs are removed, we’ll reset pre-orders that haven’t yet been fulfilled back to their previous prices. If tariffs persist or increase, we’ll likely need to increase US prices further. For existing US pre-orders of Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series) and Framework Desktop, we’re still determining how to handle the tariff impact. In the event we need to adjust pricing, we will ask for your confirmation on the new price before finalizing your pre-order. We’ve also temporarily removed the functionality to edit configurations of existing US pre-orders, but you’ll still be able to edit your order at pre-order finalization. As always, pre-orders remain fully refundable. We’ll keep you updated on US pre-order timing for Framework Laptop 12. We’re reserving some manufacturing capacity for US orders to be able to ship alongside orders from other countries.

For US orders of parts and modules that ship from our New Jersey warehouse, we’ve temporarily paused ordering while we implement changes that let us decouple pricing between laptop configuration items and items in the Framework Marketplace. When we open ordering again, we’ll continue to sell items that are already in inventory in the US at the original price, while updating pricing for each item when we import new inventory. Canadian orders that ship from our US warehouse will also remain at the original CAD price at the moment, but we may need to make future price adjustments on items that are made in China, on which we face some tariff impact.

Now, let’s get into more detail about how the tariffs work. We’re keeping this apolitical and sharing more about how this works operationally. When goods are imported into the US, tariffs are assessed based on the country of origin and the HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) code that the goods are classified as. We ship all of our products DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), meaning we pay tariffs as goods clear customs and include the cost inside of our product pricing. The tariff is calculated against the value of the product at import, meaning our cost as the importer, rather than the final price we charge for the product. The country of origin is defined as the last location in which “substantial transformation” occurs. For computers, US Customs has specifically defined substantial transformation as the location at which the main circuit board is assembled.

When starting Framework five years ago, we anticipated increased trade challenges between the US and China, and we chose to build most of our manufacturing and logistics footprint in Taiwan. At the time, imports from China to the US were subject to 7.5-25% Section 301 tariffs, with exceptions that included laptops, but not laptop parts. Because we’ve assembled our Mainboards in Taiwan since 2022 (we also do final system assembly and make magnesium parts and some aluminum parts there), the country of origin for our laptops is Taiwan. While this has largely shielded us from earlier rounds of tariffs on imports from China, all countries with a meaningful electronics manufacturing infrastructure are impacted by the current round. We are actively investigating paths to perform Mainboard assembly in the US, but our current manufacturing partners do not have necessary infrastructure in place. We were also already in the process of moving some module production from China to lower-tariff regions like Thailand and Indonesia. Migrating manufacturing partners or setting up new manufacturing infrastructure is a theoretical long term solution, but is not something we can execute ahead of tariffs coming into place this week.

This brings us back to the price and availability adjustments. Our products are built around longevity, and our business is too. We’ve built excellent Supply Chain and Logistics teams to be ready for this kind of disruption, and they are exploring every possible option to get back to normal US fulfillment. We’ll share changes and solutions as we come up with them, and we’ll remain transparent throughout. Thanks for continuing to follow along the journey.

We’ll let you know if Framework changes its plans further.

Update, 4:31PM ET: Added that Framework will continue to charge more for made-in-China modules, though it will no longer do a global 10 percent price hike on all US systems.