Framework, the designers and sellers of the modular and repairable Framework Laptop 13 and other products, announced today that it would be “temporarily pausing US sales” on some of its laptop configurations as a result of new tariffs put on Taiwanese imports by the Trump administration. The affected models will be removed from Framework’s online store for now, and there’s no word on when buyers can expect them to come back.
“We priced our laptops when tariffs on imports from Taiwan were 0 percent,” the company responded to a post asking why it was pausing sales. “At a 10 percent tariff, we would have to sell the lowest-end SKUs at a loss.”
“Other consumer goods makers have performed the same calculations and taken the same actions, though most have not been open about it,” Framework said. Nintendo also paused US preorders for its upcoming Switch 2 console last week after the tariffs were announced.
For right now, Framework’s sales pause affects at least two specific laptop configurations: the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and AMD Ryzen 5 7640U versions of the Framework Laptop 13. As of April 1, Framework was selling pre-built versions of those laptops for $999 and $899, respectively. Without those options, the cheapest versions of those laptops start at $1,399 and $1,499.
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.
People who want to use the Framework Laptop as a thin-and-light portable gaming system will want to go for the top-tier Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, which includes 12 CPU cores and a Radeon 890M with 16 GPU cores. We’ve been impressed by this chip’s performance when we’ve seen it in other systems, though Framework’s may be a bit slower because it’s using slower socketed DDR5 memory instead of soldered-down RAM. This is a trade-off that Framework’s target customers are likely to be fine with.
The Ryzen AI 300-series motherboard. Framework says an updated heatpipe design helps to keep things cool. Credit: Framework
One of the issues with the original Ryzen Framework board was that the laptop’s four USB-C ports didn’t all support the same kinds of expansion cards, limiting the laptop’s customizability somewhat. That hasn’t totally gone away with the new version—the two rear USB ports support full 40Gbps USB4 speeds, while the front two are limited to 10Gbps USB 3.2—but all four ports do support display output instead of just three.
In Framework’s first-party case, the PC starts at $1,099, which gets you a Ryzen AI Max 385 (that’s an 8-core CPU and 32 GPU cores) and 32GB of RAM. A fully loaded 128GB with a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 configuration (16 CPU cores, 40 GPU cores) will run you $1,999. There’s also an in-between build with the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip and 64GB of RAM for $1,599. If you just want the mini ITX board to put in a case of your choosing, that starts at $799.
None of these are impulse buys, exactly, but they’re priced a bit better than a gaming-focused mini PC like the Asus ROG NUC, which starts at nearly $1,300 as of this writing and comes with half as much RAM. It’s also priced well compared to what you can get out of a DIY mini ITX PC based on integrated graphics—the Ryzen 7 8700G, an AM5 ITX motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5 can all be had for around $500 collectively before you add a case, power supply, or SSD, but for considerably slower performance.
The volume of the Framework Desktop’s first-party case is just 4.5 liters—for reference, the SSUPD Meshroom S is 14.9 liters, a fairly middle-of-the-road volume for an ITX case that can fit a full-size GPU. An Xbox Series X is about 6.9 liters, and the Xbox Series S is 4.4 liters. Apple’s Mac Studio is about 3.7 liters. The Framework Desktop isn’t breaking records, but it’s definitely tiny.
Despite the non-upgradeability of the main components, Framework has tried to stick to existing standards where it can by using a flex ATX power supply, ATX headers on the motherboard, regular 120 mm fans that can be changed out, and of course the mini ITX form factor itself. Credit: Framework
So the pitch for the system is easy: You get a reasonably powerful 1440p-capable gaming and workstation PC inside a case the size of a small game console. “If the Series S could run Windows, I’d buy it in a second” is a thought that has occurred to me, so I can see the appeal, even though it costs at least three times as much.
But it does feel like a strange fit for Framework, given that it’s so much less upgradeable than most PCs. The CPU and GPU are one piece of silicon, and they’re soldered to the motherboard. The RAM is also soldered down and not upgradeable once you’ve bought it, setting it apart from nearly every other board Framework sells.
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 will release a fourth round of iterative updates and upgrade options for its Framework Laptop 13, the company announced via a blog post yesterday. The upgrades include both motherboards and pre-built laptops that feature new Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra processors with Intel Arc dedicated GPUs; lower prices for the AMD Ryzen 7000 and 13th-gen Intel editions of the laptop; and a new display with a slightly higher 2880×1920 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate.
The Core Ultra boards can come with one of three CPU options: an Ultra 5 125H with four P-cores, eight E-cores, and seven graphics cores; an Ultra 7 155H with six P-cores, eight E-cores, and eight graphics cores; or an Ultra 7 165H with the same number of cores but marginally higher clock speeds. Prices start at $899 for a pre-built or DIY model (before you add RAM, storage, an OS, or a USB-C charger), or $449 for a motherboard that can be used to upgrade an existing system.
All of the Core Ultra systems and boards ship in August as of this writing. Once this first batch sells out, a second batch will ship in Q3.
Those upgrading from an older Intel Framework board should take note: Like the Ryzen option, the Core Ultra CPUs also require an upgrade to DDR5 RAM since the processors don’t maintain compatibility with DDR4. Framework will charge you $40 for every 8GB of DDR5-5600 you buy, which is better than most PC OEMs but still above market rates—order your own RAM separately and you can save anywhere from $12 to $148, depending on the capacity.
The Core Ultra chips, like the Ryzen 7040-series chips, also include a neural processing unit (NPU) that can be used to accelerate some AI workloads. But both NPUs fall far short of the performance required for Recall and other locally accelerated AI features coming to Windows 11 24H2 later this year; Framework’s blog post doesn’t mention the NPU.
As for the new 13.5-inch, 2880×1920 display, it’s a decent resolution upgrade from the existing 2256×1504 display, and Framework says it will work a bit better with display scaling in Linux (Linux’s support for fractional scaling ratios like 125 percent or 150 percent is still generally labeled as “experimental,” though 200 percent display scaling usually works OK). It has a matte finish and a 120 Hz refresh rate, and it costs $130 more than the standard display or $269 when bought on its own to upgrade an existing laptop.
Enlarge/ The new 13.5-inch Framework display has rounded corners, a side effect of the display panel being a repurposed version of something made for another (unspecified) company.
Framework
The one oddity of the new display is that it has rounded corners that don’t quite match the squared-off corners of the Framework Laptop’s display bezel. Framework says that’s because it “repurposed and customized a panel that was originally designed for another company,” though it hasn’t yet provided further specifics. All of Microsoft’s Surface devices released within the last few years have also used rounded corners, and I haven’t found that it affects functionality at all.
Other odds and ends include multicolor USB-C Expansion Cards that are color-matched to the colorful bezel options, an English International keyboard for Linux users with a “super” key in the place of the Windows logo, and a new 9.2-megapixel front-facing webcam module with low-noise microphones (Framework says this module doesn’t work at its native resolution but instead groups four pixels together into one to deliver better performance at 1080p).
Framework has also added new configuration options for the Ryzen 7040 version of the Laptop 13 that include the new display and has lowered prices on those AMD configs and on “our remaining inventory of 13th-gen Intel Core systems. AMD systems are about $50 cheaper than they were before, though the discount is only $30 if you’re buying a bare motherboard with the Ryzen 5 7640U installed.
If you’re interested in the Framework Laptop but are hesitating because of the software and firmware update issues we’ve reported on recently, Framework says it has made progress on some of the plans that CEO Nirav Patel outlined in an interview with Ars and in some statements since then. Both the Ryzen version of the Framework Laptop 13 and the Framework Laptop 16 got new drivers in early April, while BIOS updates for both Ryzen laptops, the 11th-gen Intel laptops, and the 12th-gen Intel laptops have all been formally released in the last few months. We’re monitoring these releases, and we’ll continue to cover them when there is new information to report.
