Framework, a company that makes modular, repairable computers, says budget laptops generally suck – and plans to fix that this year. Today, the company is unveiling a computer called the Framework Laptop 12, which will be its smallest laptop, the first with a touchscreen, the first with a 2-in-1 convertible hinge, and the first with a shock-absorbing outer edge made of TPU that resembles rubber to make it more suitable for use by children and students.
“We build products to fix what we see as a broken industry, and few categories are as emblematic of consumer electronics problems as entry-level laptops,” continues Framework CEO Nirav Patel:
“They tend to be clunky, locked up, disposable, underpowered, and frankly, boring machines. Unfortunately, these are the products that computer manufacturers sell to students and young people around the world. Instead, we believe that these are the people who need well-designed, durable computers the most.”
Patel says that the Framework Laptop 12 is “in many ways the product I started the company for” and that it will be “our easiest product to repair” – though he doesn’t say how, and unfortunately we weren’t able to get a look at the inner workings at today’s event in San Francisco.
However, we were able to take it for a test drive and it seems well made! Though I kept making the mistake of trying to press the unusually small Shift key and ended up pressing the Slash key that Framework placed next to it. The active stylus has a USB-C charging port and a replaceable battery inside – just use a paper clip or SIM card tool to detach the end first.
The laptop will be equipped with a 13th-generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processor (circa 2023), a 1920×1200 screen with over 400 nits of brightness with touch and stylus support, up to 48 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of NVMe storage, and a Wi-Fi 6E module. It also has four Framework expansion card slots, allowing you to choose your own ports.
Although the Framework Laptop 12 is designed to repair entry-level laptops, Framework doesn’t share any pricing information other than to say that it will be “cheaper” than the Framework Laptop 13, which typically costs around $750 for a hand-built model on previous-generation chips or $1,100 for a pre-assembled model on the latest chips.
While Framework products often cost more than you’d pay for the same specs from Dell, HP, or Lenovo, it’s the first and only company to repeatedly deliver on the promise of modular upgrades, allowing you to easily replace the entire motherboard and processor as a single module with a new one in the future. For example, today Framework is also announcing a new AMD motherboard for its Framework Laptop 13, which can breathe new life into any previous iteration of this laptop, even the original Intel version released in 2021.
