Framework boosts its 13-inch laptop with new CPUs, lower prices, and better screens
Framework boosts its 13-inch laptop with new CPUs, lower prices, and better screens
Framework Laptop 13 gets its fourth major round of upgraded, modular parts.
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.
WTF is Intel smoking with these naming schemes I can't even understand what this means. Thank fuck AMD is an option.
85Yeah because AMD has such great naming schemes...
45The number behind Ultra is pretty much the same as with the i$x scheme. 3 is entry, 5 is mid range, 7 is high end, 9 is bad decision making.
The number after that kind of works like before. So higher number means more better. Probably with an extension for coming generation. Remember, the first i5s had 4 digit names as well, the fourth digit was prepended to indicate generations.
Thing is, there's no really good naming scheme, because there are so many possible variants/dimensions. Base clock, turbo clock, TDP, P core count, E core count, PCIe lanes, socket, generation ,..... How would you encode that in a readable name?
23just concat: intel i7 11g4p8e128l420c520b
11 gen 4 pcore 8 ecore 128 lane 4.20ghz clock base 5.20ghz clock boost
letter between for readable. maybe not add lane if not change for same number of pcore and ecore
gskill do similar thing: F5-5200J3636C16GX2-FX5
5200 mhz unbuffered dimm 36-36-36 timing 1.20v 16g per module dual channel 2 module in kit
see here: https://www.gskill.com/faq/1502180912/DRAM-Memory
edit: also can put architecture with letter to indicate refresh, add suffix for apu and maybe tdp
can maybe use some letter for number: not that many different core number, make a=1pcore, b=2pcore, c=3pcore, … more than 26 pcore unlikely ever in consumer cpu. same for ecore maybe
9
Performance cores versus efficiency cores?
20They have high power and low power cores. Borrowed the idea from "BIG.little" design from ARM.
7
I can’t even understand what this means
I think that's the intent, and they fucking nailed it.
10And AMD is following along with the stupid naming scheme in the next generation.
4It's the intent, like "high-end" car models, so you can't distinguish them by features or age.
4
This is where I'd put my Framework laptop
IF THEYD SELL ME ONE
62I know right. Instead of lowering the price. Maybe sell it outside us
6
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;
Why even waste the fucking space on the die then?
18Because the NPUs were designed and built and included long before Windows 11's AI features were announced?
If I recall correctly, it typically takes about 4 years for a CPU to go from design to distribution.
25Meteor Lake was taped out in May 2021 and launched in December 2023. Still much slower than the pace of LLM development, to be fair. It seems more like an "if you build it, they will come" approach. But that's also how we got stuck with (for most consumer purposes) useless tensor cores on our GPUs. Does anyone even give a shit about raytracing/DLSS anymore?
It actually sounds like Microsoft is betraying Intel for Qualcomm, since their upcoming processor in the new Surface tablet is the only one that actually meets the requirements. So it looks like Microsoft doesn't give two shits about supporting existing hardware either way.
3
NPUs existed before recall and have other uses apart from that.
8
This is all well and good, but what I really want is a Framework 2-in-1. That would be drool worthy.
17Oh god there's round corners?
10its due to whoever paid for the R&D for the screen asked for rounded corners. Framework just took the design and retooled the connectors for their own use case, as its significantly cheaper than commissioning a entirely new panel.
52There's two display options, 2256x1504 60Hz without rounded coners and 2880x1920 120Hz with rounded corners.
Specs are identical to the Surface Pro 11 and Framework said they are using an existing panel so they might be using the same panel, which makes it cheaper to develop since M$ would have paid for the development.
25Rounded corners don’t bother me at all, but a notch sure as hell would.
6
I was on the Framework wait-list for over a year, but bailed because they didn't kick this out in time.
8I really hope they start shipping to Denmark soon. We're such a tiny market we often get ignored or forgotten.
7This is the best summary I could come up with:
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.
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.
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.
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.
The original article contains 740 words, the summary contains 234 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
4Fuck yeah was going to order a new one soon
313" laptops are the "but why?" of laptops for me. 15" is the lowest I'll go, because I need the screen space. Having to swap between windows every three seconds while I'm working on something is a pain in the ass. I need to be able to tile my windows to have a word processor and web browser open at the same time, and I can't do that comfortably on a 13" screen. If I'm going down to 13", I may as well go down to 10" and get a tablet with a kickstand and a bluetooth keyboard.
-19Realistically, the target audience are organizations as nowadays most business laptops are being carried between docking stations with the occasional meeting or air travel in-between and 13" is an excellent size to meet those needs.
When hooked to a docking station, the screen size and keyboard is entirely irrelevant and modern laptop performance is...honestly crazy good.
When in a meeting, it's probably being either used to take notes fullscreen or show a presentation, so pretty neutral.
Finally, when traveling, you can really can feel the difference between a 13" and a 15" when you're running on too short of a layover between flights.
2513 is a good "on call"/travel size. It's not big enough to do serious work on but in a pinch it's definitely big enough to get something done. It's more comfortable on a flight, you can toss it a fairly small bag and take it with you. It's lighter but can still manage a reasonable size keyboard. And when I get to my house or my job I'm plugging into external mouse and keyboard anyway.
It's not for everyone but my 13-in motherboard died about 2 months ago and I am definitely in the market. Now if I can just actually buy one of these we'll see.
15To each their own. I’ve personally got a 14” MBP (which is physically the same size as my 13” was, they just have smaller bezels) and work provides me a 16” MBP. The 16 is unwieldy, massive, heavy, too large on my lap, barely fits in my laptop bag, and is a general pain to lug around. Every time I use it I’m reminded of how much I’m glad I got the 14”instead. I feel like the 16 is the worst of both worlds. It’s too big to truly be a portable, machine, but too small to do real work on. Sometimes I’ll think “I wish I had more screen real estate” on the 14, but I do on the 16 as well, so it doesn’t really solve the issue while also being large and heavy.
In short, it depends on what you like, and what you need to do. Being an ultraportable is a big plus and there are monitors in most places I need more space anyway.
14The actual screen volume is around that of a 14" 16:9 if that makes a difference
6Everyone is different. My favorite computer is my 11" netbook because despite being slow it fits in any bag, fits in my side table, so light I can easily carry with one hand and not put undue pressure on my wrists, I can use most books as a lap desk, and I don't have to clear off as much space on the table (I have two kids so it's never clear).
4