Framework Laptop 13 Pro review: A repairable notebook at the top of the class

9 / 10 Pros Panther Lake performance is superb Whisper-quiet operation More than enough battery life Modular and repairable Cons Have you seen the price of RAM?

What happened

Daniel Cooper for Engadget RATING : 8. 9 / 10 Pros Panther Lake performance is superb Whisper-quiet operation More than enough battery life Modular and repairable Cons Have you seen the price of RAM? Webcam and speakers need some love No, honestly, have you seen the price of RAM right now? Framework has spent the last six years showing the industry it's possible to build a modular and repairable laptop. But CEO Nirav Patel knows there's a ceiling to its ambitions it needs to smash if it wants to take its place among the giants of the industry. It needs to improve the look and feel of its machines, while boosting performance, to the point where a Framework product isn't seen as a compromise.

Practical impact for readers

"The benchmark for us is the MacBook Pro," Patel told me back in April. The Framework Laptop 13 Pro is his attempt to build a laptop as good as that, but for Linux and Windows users. It's one hell of a target, and I'm delighted to tell you that the Framework Laptop 13 Pro is the best Windows laptop I've ever used. It looks good, performs beautifully and feels amazing to touch. There's one downside: It arrived during the RAMpocalypse, which has unfortunately pushed the price far higher than anyone's wallet might want to bear.

Details worth verifying

Daniel Cooper for Engadget From the moment you slide the laptop out of its paper sleeve, it's clear Framework is using this launch as a chance to polish its homework. Much as it's bound by the template the original chassis laid down years ago, there's still plenty of room for tweaks. The new machined aluminum body feels so much more solid, and the black (sorry, Graphite ) paint job just suits it.

Who should act or wait

As a long-term Framework watcher, it's easier for me to spot the smaller details the company sweated. Gone are the flat angles, replaced with tidy chamfering. The rubber feet are now rounded over rather than squared off. The captive torx screws now have machined heads so their grooves catch the light. There's no visible seam between the input cover and the bottom case, making it look like a single piece of metal.

What is still unclear

Let's be honest, the Framework 13 was never ugly, but its design was always a little more on the agricultural side. The panel gaps and boxiness was a consequence of the choice to focus on making a machine that you could repair and upgrade yourself. Here, the new color, paired with the higher quality materials, puts the Pro in the same league as a ThinkPad or, yes, even a MacBook.

Source notes

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