Framework announced two new systems to its lineup today: the convertible Framework 12 and a gaming-focused (but not-very-upgradeable) mini ITX Framework Desktop PC. But it's continuing to pay attention to the Framework Laptop 13, too—the company's first upgrade-friendly repairable laptop is getting another motherboard update, this time with AMD's latest Ryzen AI 300-series processors. It's Framework's second AMD Ryzen-based board, following late 2023's Ryzen 7040-based refresh.
The new boards are available for preorder today and will begin shipping in April. Buyers new to the Framework ecosystem can buy a laptop, which starts at $1,099 as a pre-built system with an OS, storage, and RAM included, or $899 for a build-it-yourself kit where you add those components yourself. Owners of Framework Laptops going all the way back to the original 11th-generation Intel version can also buy a bare board to drop into their existing systems; these start at $449.
Framework will ship six- and eight-core Ryzen AI 300 processors on lower-end configurations, most likely the Ryzen AI 5 340 and Ryzen AI 7 350 that AMD announced at CES in January. These chips include integrated Radeon 840M and 860M GPUs with four and eight graphics cores, respectively.
© Framework
The original Framework Laptop’s sales pitch was that it wanted to bring some of the modularity and repairability of the desktop PC ecosystem to a functional, thin-and-light laptop. For nearly half a decade, the company has made good on that promise with multiple motherboard upgrades and other tweaks for the original 13-inch Framework Laptop; with the Framework Laptop 16 and Laptop 12, the company has tried to bring the same ethos to gaming/workstation laptops and budget PCs for students.
One of Framework's announcements today was for the company's first desktop PC. Unsurprisingly dubbed the Framework Desktop, it's aimed less at the general-purpose PC crowd and more at people who want the smallest, most powerful desktop they can build and will pay extra money to get it. Pre-orders for this system start today, and Framework says it should ship in Q3 of 2025.
Here was my first question: What does a company trying to build a more desktop-like laptop have to bring to the desktop ecosystem, where things are already standardized, upgradeable, and repairable?
© Framework
Framework has been selling and upgrading the upgrade-and-repair-friendly Framework Laptop 13 for nearly four years now, and in early 2024 it announced a larger, more powerful Framework Laptop 16. At a product event today, the company showed off what it called "an early preview" of its third laptop design, the convertible, budget-focused Framework Laptop 12.
This addition to Framework's lineup centers on a 12.2-inch, 1920×1200 convertible touchscreen that flips around to the back with a flexible hinge, a la Lenovo's long-running Yoga design. Framework CEO Nirav Patel said it had originally designed the systems with "students in mind," and to that end it comes in five colors and uses a two-tone plastic body with an internal metal frame rather than the mostly aluminum exterior Framework has used for the 13 and 16. Framework will also sell the laptop with an optional stylus.
For better or worse, the Framework Laptop 12 appears to be its own separate system, with motherboards, accessories, and a refresh schedule distinct from the 13-inch laptop. While the Laptop 13 already offers first-generation Intel Core Ultra-based and (as of today) AMD Ryzen AI 300-based processors, the first Framework Laptop 12 motherboard is going to use Intel's 13th-generation Core i3 and i5 processors, originally launched back in late 2022. Despite the age of these chips, Framework claims the laptop will be "unusually powerful for its class."
© Framework
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to make artificial general intelligence (AGI) — which is roughly defined as AI that can accomplish any task a human can — openly available one day. But in a new policy document, Meta suggests that there are certain scenarios in which it may not release a highly capable AI […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
