Framework announces Laptop 13 Pro, ‘the MacBook Pro for Linux users’

Every time we review a Framework laptop, we find familiar pros and cons. They’re truly upgradable, incredibly repairable, but we always wish the battery lasted longer. We always wish the build quality were top notch.

Today, Framework is announcing what could be the answer: the Framework Laptop 13 Pro.

I just tried it at Framework’s event in San Francisco, and the build quality feels like night and day compared to the somewhat piecemeal designs the company’s released before.

It’s the company’s first laptop to be fully machined out of blocks of 6000-series aluminum, its first with a haptic trackpad, and its first with a fully custom 13.5-inch, 3:2, 2.8K, variable refresh rate (30-120Hz) IPS screen that comes color-calibrated right out of the box.

With the option to order it preloaded with Ubuntu instead of only Windows, Framework CEO Nirav Patel says its goal for this computer is to be “the MacBook Pro for Linux users.” And — especially in anodized black, though it also comes in silver — it looks like it could play the part!

With a 22 percent higher capacity battery (74Wh), an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” chip, and LPCAMM2 compression-mounted memory, Framework even claims it can (barely) beat the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro in battery life — at least when it comes to streaming 20 hours of 4K Netflix at a go.

And while we can’t test that quite yet, Framework let us tear down the entire machine today, play with the keyboard, touchpad, touchscreen, and chassis. It largely feels premium in a way Framework laptops haven’t felt before. The machined aluminum chassis and keyboard have so little flex, the touchpad feels incredibly smooth with nice haptic taps. And, like Apple’s MacBooks, the hinge is properly tensioned so you can open the lid with a single finger. We’ll have a video showing off a bunch of that later today.

Meanwhile, here are some photos from my colleague Victoria Barrios, including us pulling out a LPCAMM2 memory module:

The Laptop 13 Pro is Framework’s first 13-inch laptop with a touchscreen (though no stylus), its first with PCIe 5.0 for up to 8TB of 14,000MB/s SSD storage, and its first with Dolby Atmos certification for its newly side-firing speakers. (“Mid at best” is how Antonio described the speakers in the last 13-inch model, so we’re genuinely hoping for an improvement there.)

And unlike the MacBooks, of course, you can easily replace the M.2 2280 storage and even the RAM, assuming you can find and afford its newfangled LPCAMM2 modules once RAMageddon has subsided.

For what it’s worth, Patel tells us Framework will be able to stock 16GB, 32GB and 64GB modules in its own marketplace after working carefully with memory suppliers like Micron, and Framework has been one of the most transparent companies about the RAM crisis thus far.

For modular gadget lovers, though, the most exciting part might be that you don’t need to buy a whole laptop to get many of these benefits, because the Laptop 13 Pro doesn’t break compatibility with the existing Framework Laptop 13. The Laptop 13 Pro has the same dimensions, including the same 15.85mm thickness, though it weighs slightly more at 1.4kg (3.08lb) vs 1.3kg (2.86lbs). You can drop just the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3, or just the display, or just the keyboard and trackpad, into an existing Laptop 13. Or you can buy the new chassis. Or just a new bottom cover and the bigger battery for your existing machine.

We didn’t yet have component prices at publish time to tell whether part swaps are cost-effective. But in a world where a single component (RAM) is driving up the price of practically every computer, upgrades that don’t involve RAM might be quite interesting. Speaking of which, you can also configure the Laptop 13 Pro with last year’s AMD Ryzen AI 300 boards if Intel or LPCAMM isn’t your thing.

The Framework Laptop 13 Pro itself is of course priced higher than previous 13-inch models, but not exorbitantly so. It starts at $1,499 for a prebuilt with an Intel Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB of LPCAMM2 memory, and 512GB of storage, or $1,199 for DIY.

That prebuilt price is $400 more than Framework has charged for a Ryzen AI 5 340 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB storage, but you’re theoretically getting a lot for the cash — and not just in terms of performance, battery life, and doubled storage. There’s also a faster 100W GaN charger and a smoother screen, at up to 120Hz compared to the 60Hz that Framework’s 13-inch display was stuck at previously.

Patel says that after six years in business, “There is essentially no technology that’s theoretically possible where we’re not at a scale we can get it,” and its first fully custom display is an example of that. Patel says Framework went blank slate, including a new backlight, in-cell touch, and a new antiglare coating for higher contrast in ambient lighting.

The 2880 x 1920 screen still leaves room for improvement, though. I like the matte coating in person, though it could be brighter; its 700-nit brightness isn’t anything special these days. Patel admits that Framework capped its color gamut at 100 percent of the less comprehensive sRGB color space (not Adobe RGB or DCI-P3) to prioritize the specs that’d lead to better battery. When I ask what “Pro” means if not the visual designer pros who buy MacBooks, Patel says it’s about building “the ultimate developer laptop,” one that developers will compare to the MacBook Pro.

“If you’re a developer who’s coding all day long, we want this to be the perfect laptop for you,” he says.

Framework is opening preorders for the Framework Laptop 13 Pro today, so you should soon be able to see full pricing at its website, including for versions with Core Ultra X7 and X9 variants that’ll have enough Intel Xe3 GPU cores to carve through some modern games on battery — we saw one playing Cyberpunk 2077 at around 70fps, with a lot of help from adaptive upscaling. The company plans to ship the first batch of laptops in June, and says it’ll only have a small batch of Intel X9 to start.

Update, April 21st: Added hands-on impressions and photos from Framework’s event in San Francisco.