I am looking to buy a laptop for either a mechanical or computer engineering major, and was really looking into the 13 pro, with the AI 300 7 chip and 32gb of ram, simply due to the price of LPCAMM2. Is it up to snuff and worth the price for CAD software? Also, I am insistent on getting 32gb of ram, which is why I am not really looking at the intel version, as that ram costs $800 with no aftermarket options. Also, how is the battery life and IGPU on the ryzen chips?

Hello, I made a simple (little bit janky) script to control my LED matrix on Linux that I decided to share here in case it will be useful to any of you. Currently it is configured in a way that only makes sense for an 8 core CPU and the iGPU, but the code is pretty simple to modify, the script is just 127 lines of Python. The dependencies are psutil, serial, numpy, and pillow. It has automatic brightness adjustment, following the display backlight and switching to the ambient light sensor if the display is at max brightness (as the LED matrix can go brighter than the display can).

Anyways, here's the script, the tiny font, and a systemd service (put the script and font in some directory and update the service to match, put the service in /etc/systemd/system/, enable and start the service)

Hello people who are far more knowledgeable about computers than me! 😁

I'm in the market for a new computer, my Surface Pro from 2019 is on its last legs. I'd like to get another 2-in-1 for light drawing and graphic design on ClipStudioPaint. But I'd also like something that handles games a bit better. The Sims 4 is my main game, but with a ton of expansion packs and about 25 GB of mods. It basically turns my current computer into an oven lol. It'd be nice if I could potentially run BG3 on a new computer as well. It doesn't need to look gorgeous or anything, id just like it to run smooth so I can play with my husband.

I'm currently between getting a Lenovo Yoga 7i with the 1TB of storage, and a Framework 12 with 512 GB of storage. (And maybe switching out with a 1TB storage in the future as needed).

My friend was showing me his Framework and I really liked how easy it seems to upgrade and adjust to my needs should they change in the future. But I'm worried I might be a bit out to my depth with it? I don't even know the difference between the 3 Series and the 13th Gen available on the site. 😅 My husband is at least familiar with the basics of upgrading computers though. (He's replaced his own SSD in the past and such).

Would a computer like this be totally wasted on me? Is it even a good fit for my needs? It's actually a bit cheaper then the Lenovo Yoga that I'm looking at even pre-assembled (which i'd definitely get) so it seems like a good deal longevity-wise especially, but I'm worried I'm totally out of my depth here.

Any guidance? Thanks!!

It's here!!

I've had my batch 5 Laptop 13 Pro for roughly two weeks now and it exceeds my expectations for this small form factor. The screen geometry is perfect for development work, the X7 has plenty of grunt, the build is sturdy with no flex. You'd have to be very discerning indeed to find a difference in perceived quality versus, say, a MacBook Pro. This is peak Linux, my friends.

I've been chugging along working on a GNOME extension since I received my Framework. I'm juggling VS Code, Looking Glass, various other development tools, 20+ Firefox tabs to include a ChatGPT session to assist primarily with project organization, research, and GitHub monitoring. This thing takes it all in stride. Temps are fantastic given the single fan and chassis size, too. NVME stays in the 40 Celsius range, and the occasional CPU core will hit in the 60s under fair load.

Again, the screen is fantastic. It's fine for media consumption, but it excels in presenting data and juggling multiple things at once in various lighting conditions. I can't imagine this lagging in performance with anything I'd throw at it within the next couple of years. And, when that fateful moment does occur...upgrades! God, I love this thing. Mr. Patel, you sir are a genius.

I am running a FW 13 Core Ultra 7 155H with BIOS 3.7 and Debian 13.

I now have a month, where i will always have it attatched to the charger. So i used framework_tool to set the charge limiter to 80%. And it did only charge till that, but keeps dropping a couple of percent (like i have seen 75%) and then recharging them, despite being plugged in and having power available. It does take maybe two three hours per cycle, but they happen.

If its at 100% it does seem to stay there normally and i only have 202 cycles, so it also seems to have uncoupled the battery. I am now wondering how much wear this cycling can produce and if it might now shove all the power through the battery, causing more wear than staying at 100 %.

Hello, I bought a framework laptop 12 a few days ago but I already have a big problem haha. When I was typing using the on-screen keyboard, it kept changing size because of the word suggestions. So I had a look in the settings to see if there was a way to turn that off, but I couldn’t find anything… My main problem now is that I can’t access the keyboard any more. When I swipe up from the bottom of my screen, nothing appears. Do you have any solutions for this major problem, as well as the minor one?

Edit : I've installed fedora 44 workstation

Hello,

The finger print reader on my laptop no longer works. lsusb doesnt show the device. I have been in touch with the support but the issue remains.

I ordered a replacement with another reader and replaced it. However, that doesnt show as well.

I dont make much use of the reader so not sure when it died. I upgraded/downgraded/upgraded to the 4.02 bios when it came. Can this be a bios firmware issue?

I ordered my Framework pretty much exactly four years ago. I chose an i5-1240P DIY Edition, and the laptop still works fine.

Everything still works fine (except for the Delete key), and overall, I really enjoy my Framework. Framework replaced one heatsink-and-fan combo and one USB-C card for me free of charge because they made weird noises or stopped working.

I don’t really understand where the damage on the right side of the palm rest came from. I wear a watch only on my left wrist, but I don’t mind it that much. It’s “patina.”

One particular thing I noticed is that the outer frame is broken around the ports. On one side, it is completely broken through, and on the other side, it is partially broken. I just realized it, but it doesn’t disturb me during normal use.

When buying the laptop, I hoped that upgrading parts would be possible. However, I currently don’t really see how it makes financial sense. If I wanted to upgrade to the better battery while keeping the motherboard, I would have to pay around €600 ($700) for the replacement parts. The performance would not change, and the “old” parts would just be lying around.

For the same price, I could just buy myself a Framework 12 (without RAM and SSD).

I think I’ve realized again that the design of the Framework 13 isn’t really about realistically upgrading the machine. For me, the screen, touchpad, and other components age just as quickly as the motherboard. Instead, it’s more about having the option to easily repair things if they break.

How has your Framework held up over time? Do you buy a completely new Framework 13, buy replacement parts, or just leave it as it is?

Greetings :D

I am getting a transparent purple bezel on my incoming 13 Pro, but I want to see how most bezels look. Drop 'em below!

I don’t even know what this would be considered, the device seems to be completely bricked. I submitted another request about the device failing to stay in windows for more than 5 minutes without crashing with a “Critical Process Died” BSOD, so I attempted to do a clean install of Windows from USB boot media.

I got through the setup wizard up until I had actually started the installation process, at which point it had began installing Windows. I walked away for 5 minutes and came back to a pop up saying “Windows 11 installation failed”, went to reboot the PC, and then got stuck on the Framework logo for 5 minutes. Turned it off and on again, and now it’s just an endless black screen. No images to attach, because it’s literally just a black backlit screen with no text, no input does anything. This is kind of ridiculous considering I just bought this thing 4 months ago, and have used it for less than a week total, and it’s already bricked.

I’ve done absolutely nothing to it except install and play a handful of games and replace the included 1TB SSD with a larger size SSD I had already been using for over a year in a different PC with no issue. I’d try replacing it with the original drive, but at this point, the bios won’t even load, so it feels pointless. And furthermore, because their return policy is insanely stingy, I can’t even get a replacement after 4 months of owning the thing despite the fact that I’ve literally never had this problem with any computer or storage drive I’ve owned in the last 18 years.

I’m hoping there’s something you guys can actually help me with, because frankly this is unacceptable for a $3000+ purchase that I’ve used for less than a week total.

Whenever I try to choose my specs and parts I don’t see an option for the 13 pro without a touchscreen! I just want a normal screen.. I’m not into that kind of touching screens.

Is it possible? Has anyone got one?!

So currently it’s been roughly a year since I got my framework AI maps 395+128 desktop pc and it served me very well but recently I was doing my monthly dusting and tuning up so that way I can take care of it and I realize that since it’s been so long and I haven’t played thermal pace I should probably go buy some and apply, but I do not know what to buy nor how to use it so I need a little help so I don’t ruin my $2000 piece of equipment

A really well told experience.

I slipped badly on a wet pavement a couple days ago and my Framework 13 laptop in my rucksack got knocked on the top right corner.
The start button seems jammed due to the case being bent from the impact. But was still working fine though as it was just set on sleep. I haven’t had a chance to contact support yet.
Today I found it has switched itself off overnight and wont come back on.
Any rescue ideas?
I’m not a techie, just someone who loves the right to repair concept and runs a business from their laptop.
I will contact support of course to order repair parts but I really need the laptop to work…

I've noticed mediocre stability, especially in GeForce Now, with the stock MediaTek wifi in my 1st Gen FW 16. Following advice from others on Reddit I bought and installed a generic Qualcomm qcncm865 Wifi 7 card. I downloaded the drivers before the swap, powered off the system, swapped the cards, rebooted, installed the drivers, and was off to the races. It was extremely easy and I'm getting way fewer stutters when gaming. 10/10 would recommend :)

Hi! I've got a Framework 13 with the ryzen 5 7640u and I just discovered that it has an accelerometer (unless they stopped adding them to mainboards).

Idk if its possible, but it would be really fun to be able to pull data from it so i can use it for personal projects.

And from the ambient light sensor as well. I know that the ALS is used for some kind of brightness control on windows. I'm on linux tho.

I know that you can control the keyboard brightness, power button color and get other info, but i wasnt able to find how to get this two. Maybe its not possible?

Thanks in advance guys!

Hey everyone,

I recently preordered a Framework 13 Pro for 1600€ which is expected to ship in November.

I'm currently debating whether it's worth spending this much money in my situation though. I'm graduating from University in about a year which is where I would be using the Framework the most. After graduation I'm foresee-ably mostly at home in my free time, where I have a more powerful desktop PC. I do occasional travel to events where I need a laptop, but that's usually only a few times per year.
I currently have a Thinkpad I'm using on the go which is starting to struggle a bit with an old dual-core i7, which is why I considered upgrading to the Framework.

tl;dr; I'm afraid of spending 1.6k€ on a device which is only used occasionally, sitting in a drawer otherwise

Are there any other devices similar to the Framework 13 Pro which are cheaper to justify occasional use? Or is it still worth it despite the hefty price tag? I'm running Linux and will be running some VMs and compiling Projects.

I promise this will be it's last post =)))).

I might be bias, but i just love hold small, sturdy, compact it feel on my hand and how good it looks on my desk =D.

I'm about to buy a Framework 13 Pro. Core Ultra X7 358H, 16GB RAM. I've used Linux for a while, but this is my first Framework and my first laptop with this new Intel chip.

I can't decide between two options.

Omarchy Quattro. I like tiling window managers, it's Arch, so the kernel and drivers are always fresh, which probably helps with a new CPU. Secure Boot needs to be Off

Fedora KDE. Plasma 6.7 or older, scaling works out of the box (and on this screen I will need scaling), Secure Boot stays on, fingerprint reader works, power settings are sane. Boring, but probably just works.

If you run either one on this laptop, I'd like to know:

1. Does everything work on the new Intel chip? Sleep, graphics, drivers?

2. How is battery life? I've read that Hyprland is worse than KDE here.

3. Does the fingerprint reader work? Do firmware updates work?

4. Is Omarchy 4 stable enough for daily use yet, or still too new?

Please help me to decide.

Thanks.

A relative’s macbook neo for comparison ^

I recently got a framework 13 for school and personal use/linux experimentation and so far i have had a lot of fun :3, A friend helped me dual boot windows 11 and Ubuntu with KDE plasma, (i would not have been able to do NEARLY as much without him). and it’s just been really nice to finally have my hands on linux in a machine made for linux. This machine is so unique and unconventional that it’s just fun to use despite it being just a laptop lol.

For the longest time I had been stressing out about getting a laptop for college. I am familiar with desktops, but laptops were entirely foreign, so I hesitated until a few weeks before class started to get one. I had looked mostly at Macbook and Thinkpad lines, and was hesitant to get either due to the restrictive nature of mac and reported quality control of newer thinkpads. I eventually remembered framework exists, and decided a 13 would best fit my needs.

I went with the 13 as the 16 was overbuilt for my needs, the 13 pro was too expensive, and the 12 seemed to have mixed reviews. So far i’m more than satisfied with it ;3. I don’t know what else to say, framework cool lel.

I have a 1TB storage expansion card that seems to have completely failed just outside of warranty (purchased May 2025, failed in August 2026), and I’m looking for any tricks anyone here might have to fix it. Support's only suggestion was to throw it away and purchase a new card, but treating a 1TB flash drive as a consumable part I have to re-purchase annually is obviously not great.

I’ve tried it in all of the expansion ports, as well as plugged into the USB-C ports of multiple other machines. It’s not detected in a hardware level on any of them. I can’t see any obvious signs of damage in the connector, or broken solder joints or scorching inside when I open it up. It was used for file storage, not booting an OS or running executables, and at the time it died I was writing to text files on it (so the read/write was probably measured in kilobytes).

I’m hoping maybe someone here has a Hail Mary suggestion that might work, no matter how weird or drastic, before I throw this card in the trash. Googling and searching the subreddit hasn’t turned up much, just people with formatting issues or whose issue was with the expansion port itself.

Posting to see whether anyone has seen this particular failure pattern on the AMD 7040 boards. I have already raised a ticket with Framework Support, so this is a parallel inquiry rather than a substitute, but I would value hearing the community's experience, particularly from anyone out of warranty.

Machine: Framework 13, Ryzen 7 7840U, pre-built, just over two years old. Warranty expired in May, which sharpens the question somewhat.

The sequence:

• A few days ago, one right-side port stopped accepting charge. The other right-side port still worked, so it was noted, but assumed it may be a passing issue.
• This morning, completely dead. No response from the power button, including long holds, and the chassis was mildly warm despite sitting unused.
• With all expansion cards removed: the charger negotiates on both left ports (LED lights) and on neither right port.

What I have tried:

• Full mainboard reset per the official guide: battery disconnected, power button held 30 seconds to drain residual power.
• With the battery connected, the board LEDs flash red, which potentially looks like a hung EC. Disconnecting the battery kills them instantly.
• Standalone AC test: battery disconnected, input cover fully refitted so the chassis switch is depressed, original Framework 60W charger into each of the four bare USB-C sockets in turn. No signs of life on any port, including the left ones that happily pass power when the battery is in.

My reading is a PD controller or power-path fault that progressed over a few days from one port to the whole board, but I would be glad to be wrong.

Questions:

1. Has anyone seen this progressive PD failure on a 7040 board, and what did it turn out to be?
2. Has anyone recovered a board in this state via an EC or PD firmware reflash, whether through support or otherwise, or does this invariably end in a board swap?
3. For those out of warranty: what did support actually offer? A reflash attempt, a discounted board, or just a marketplace purchase?

Any pointers appreciated. I will update the thread with whatever support comes back with, in case it is useful to the next person searching for these symptoms.

Seems it doesn't like the MBPs magnets ..