Framework Launches Refreshed Intel, AMD Laptop and Mainboard Variants, Teases New 16" Model
New, larger, and more powerful Framework 16, coming later this year, adds an expansion bay for upgradeable graphics.
Modular laptop specialist Framework has announced a new generation of devices, including a "refined" Framework Laptop 13 with choice of Intel or AMD processor and a larger-scale Framework 16 aimed at gamers and creators.
The original Framework laptop launched two years ago as a novel device in this modern integrate-everything era: a modular laptop which could be chopped and changed to meet a user's requirements, either by adding or removing particular ports or by upgrading the entire motherboard.
It was the release of that motherboard as a single-board computer (SBC) in its own right, though, which really caught makers' attention — and we've seen the Framework Mainboard used in projects like Richard Sutherland's portable Framedeck, Michael Armstrong's desktop Framework-AIO, and Penk Chen's retro-themed circular Mainboard Terminal projects.
The new Framework Laptop 13, described by Framework founder and chief executive officer Nirav Patel as a "refined" upgrade, includes a newer selection of 13th-generation Intel Core processor choices, a larger 61Wh battery, a matte-finish non-reflective display, and improved hinges and speakers. "We've addressed just about every ask from the community," Patel claims — including broadening the hardware choice to include longstanding Intel rival AMD.
"This [is] the most popular ask by far," Patel claims, "an AMD-powered Framework laptop." Built on the same new Framework 13 chassis as the Intel variants, the AMD version includes a choice of Ryzen 7040-series processors, DDR5 memory, and an AMD-compatible Wi-Fi card — though, Patel notes, the Framework modules themselves are entirely interchangeable between AMD and Intel variants.
Framework has also offered a "developer preview" of a more powerful device, the Framework Laptop 16 with — as the name implies — a 16" display. "With the new Expansion Bay system, we're delivering on the holy grail for gamers, creators, and others who need power, with modular upgradable graphics," Patel says of the new machine, which will begin shipping later this year. "We're also enabling fully reconfigurable input using the Input Module systems."
Those Input Modules, released along with the rest of the company's module designs under an open source license, are powered by a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and come with a QMK-based firmware. Framework has also released mechanical drawings, 3D CAD files and electrical reference designs for its Input Modules and new Expansion Bay modules on its GitHub repository — and has confirmed that the new Intel and AMD motherboards will be available to purchases as Framework Mainboards outside the laptop chassis.
Those who do opt for a Mainboard on its own, and who aren't simply using it to upgrade an existing Framework laptop chassis, will also have a new housing option: a transparent small form factor chassis from Cooler Master, launching this spring for $39.
More information on the Framework Laptop 13 Intel and Framework Laptop 13 AMD, for which pre-orders have opened, are available on the respective product pages; those interested in the Framework Laptop 16 can read more on the company website.