Framework has built a business out of selling repairable, upgradeable, customizable laptops, and honestly, they make some of our favorite laptops. So you can imagine I was pretty excited when Framework invited me to try out the just-announced Framework Laptop 13 Pro in San Francisco this week.
The 13 Pro is a “complete ground up redesign” of the company’s original Framework Laptop 13 with power users and developers in mind. But even if you’re not in either of those categories I think you’ll find a lot to like about the Pro version.
In the run-up to the announcement of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro, CEO Nirav Patel has been beating the bushes promising not to gouge customers over rising RAM prices and offering dire warnings over personal computing.
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With that in mind, how does the Laptop 13 Pro compare to its predecessors?
Refined design
For fans of the Laptop 13, you won’t notice much of a difference design-wise. The new 13 Pro looks fairly similar. The differences are in the replaceable parts, like the new display.
The 13 Pro features a “purpose-built” 13.5-inch display with touch support. It’s supposed to have a variable 30-120 Hz refresh rate, 2880×1920 resolution. I didn’t have a Laptop 13 to compare, but I saw the Pro in different lighting conditions including a sunlit atrium, and, for some reason, a nearly completely dark room, lit by tiny lamps.
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In both situations, the display appeared crisp and bright. It’s a solid laptop screen that’ll get the job done.
I am a heathen that doesn’t really use touchscreens on laptops when available, mostly because I forget they exist. I did take some time to try out the 13 Pro touch display and it seemed to be quite responsive, though it’s not a selling point for me. I would prefer a strong display over touch capabilities. Other people at the event seemed excited, though, so your mileage may vary.
A personal favorite bit is a new little pop-up under the keyboard area that makes separating the laptop for repairs or upgrades easier. But there’s more.
And despite describing it as a Premium laptop, my favorite replaceable parts like the bezel and some of the parts are the ones with translucent plastic that remind me of the N64 or the original iMacs.
Power and life
We’ve described the original Laptop 13 as the anti-MacBook in the past and the Pro continues that trend with two major upgrades that put it on par with the MacBook Pro M5.
First is the larger 75Wh battery, which Framework claims the 13 Pro can use to stream Netflix at 4K resolution for over 20 hours, 12 hours longer than the Laptop 13. It’s also longer than the 14 hours we’ve managed on the MacBook Pro M5 in our testing.
The new battery can easily swap out as needed as well. Framework also bumped up the 60W GaN power adapter to a larger 100W version, though I was told the 13 Pro will still accept the 60W version if you have one.
I tested the 13 Pro during Framework’s Next Gen event in San Francisco, so I won’t be able to verify their battery life claims until we put it through the paces in our lab.
Where you can feel the difference is in the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs (Panther Lake) configurations that are now an option. Specifically, the 13 Pro can run the Core Ultra 5, Ultra X7 or Core Ultra X9. Additionally, Framework is moving from LPDDR RAM to LPCAMM2 with configurations in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.
I believe Framework is the only, or one of the only, laptop makers using LPCAMM2 and coupled with Intel’s Panther Lake processors, the 13 Pro felt responsive and ultra quick across several different operating systems including the built-in Ubuntu configuration, Windows 11 and other niche options
Not cheap
The Framework Laptop 13 Pro doesn’t exactly come cheap starting at $1,199 for the DIY edition, meaning you can pick parts for your configuration. Pre-built versions start at $1,499.
It is competitive with the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 which starts at $1,499. What you do get over Apple is repairability and longevity. CEO Nirav Patel promised that you would be able to upgrade the 13 Pro the same as any other Framework laptop.
You could even turn an older laptop 13 into a Pro version using parts purchased from Framework with some caveats. The bigger battery necessitates a new bottom panel and a couple of other parts which Patel confirmed during a Q&A.
If you’re the kind of person who loves options, but still wants refinement, the Framework Laptop 13 Pro feels like the perfect device threading the needle between Apple slick designs and DIY attitude.
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