Framework’s tiniest, still ultra-repairable laptop is receiving a slew of upgrades made to paper over the PC’s lingering flaws. The Framework Laptop 12 is still available in a bunch of bright colors (bubblegum pink is still king), but now it features better chips, better ports, a Linux option, and—thank the laptop gods—a backlit keyboard.
The next version of the Framework Laptop 12 now includes Intel’s Wildcat Lake chips, namely the Intel Core 3 304, Intel Core 5 320, and Intel Core 7 350. These are essentially cut-down versions of the Intel Panther Lake CPUs Framework previously shoved inside its Laptop 13 Pro. You can see some of these upgrades in several videos the company posted to its YouTube channel.
We’ve personally seen how these chips offer some welcome low-end performance for lightweight laptops such as the Dell XPS 13. Framework also promised we’d see better battery life with these new mainboards than on the previous Laptop 12’s older Intel 13th-gen i3 and i5 processors despite using the same 50Wh battery. In addition to the new chips, the new 12-inch Framework also comes with Thunderbolt 4 port options on the rear-most expansion card slots. This allows for higher wattage charging and faster data transfer speeds.
Of course, the joy of Framework devices is that if you have an older Framework Laptop 12, you can simply upgrade to the new Wildcat Lake mainboard without needing to purchase a whole new shell. However, you may have to wait until the new laptops ship before you can buy that new backlit input cover module. You’ll also need to buy a Core 5 and Core 7 variant to receive a new fingerprint reader.
Framework founder and CEO Nirav Patel said in a video that, according to customer surveys, around 80% of users are running Linux on their Framework Laptop 12. So, as a treat, the company is crafting a version of its pint-sized PC with the Fedora distro pre-installed. We’ve seen how well this worked inside the Framework Laptop 13 Pro, which came with Ubuntu, and we have to note it wasn’t perfect. However, for people who want a supremely portable PC without the Windows 11 hassle, this may be your best option.
You may also need to consider Linux on the Framework Laptop 12 due to the stated starting RAM spec. The laptop can ship with a single stick of 8GB DDR5-5600 memory alongside 500GB of storage. If you want a DIY edition with 16GB of RAM, you’ll have to spend an additional $250. We’ve seen for ourselves how Windows 11 devices still struggle to handle minimal RAM specs, despite Microsoft trying to change that.
Patel says the Ubuntu version of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro outsold the Windows version “by a large margin.” It’s clear there are enough laptop buyers annoyed at Windows that they’re willing to try something completely different. That’s where the new Framework Laptop 12 may shine. If you want to start your kid off right on a bubblegum pink laptop that requires them to actually understand how PCs work, this may be your best option.
