Summary
- Pre-orders for the Framework Laptop 12 start today, but U.S. customers face delays and potential price increases.
- Framework will have to make changes due to tariffs for buyers stateside.
- The Framework Laptop 12 offers modular, upgradeable parts, a colorful design, 13th-gen processors, and up to 48GB RAM.
Framework, the company making slick yet modular and repairable laptops, is finally ready for you to get your hands on the all-new Framework Laptop 12. In an effort to make small entry-level laptops great, pre-orders are live starting today, April 9th, but we have some bad news.
Ahead of pre-orders opening, Framework revealed that the launch and order system is being delayed for customers in the United States. Unfortunately, that’s about all we know right now, and it sounds like price increases or fewer options could accompany its arrival. For everyone else, pre-orders start today.
The company said, “We’re incrementally making adjustments for US customers as tariff impact comes into effect.” The company then mentioned that it’ll detail the next step, which would be repricing products for U.S. buyers until the company has final confirmation that it has no other alternative route. So, it sounds like the laptop in the U.S. will either go up in price, have fewer customization options, or a bit of both. We’ll have to wait and see.
In February, Framework surprised many by announcing a new desktop PC and then followed that up with a small 12-inch touchscreen laptop for those wanting something a bit smaller. The portable 2-in-1 laptop promises to deliver much of the same experience as bigger Framework laptops, only in a sleek package without breaking the bank.
Starting today, April 9th, you can officially pre-order the Framework Laptop 12. And no, we still don’t have a ship date. Naturally, pricing depends on which specs and features you plan to add to your colorful little machine, and while we’ll find out pricing details soon, we’ll have to update buyers once we know about U.S. pricing. It’s worth mentioning that the company is already hinting at limited inventories, so you better hurry. Last week, Framework said, “We have a hunch that the early batches are going to go very quickly.”
The Framework Laptop 12 isn’t your average convertible laptop. This colorful device has a 12.2-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution touchscreen attached to a 360-degree folding hinge. And while that’s nothing new, all the upgradeable and modular parts make it stand out against all the rest of the convertibles on the market. That said, some of those modular parts may not come to the U.S. right away. Then, according to the company, the 12-inch screen offers 400 nits of brightness, and will get “much brighter than you typically see from lower-cost laptops.”
Other Framework Laptop 12 specs include the option to get a 13th-gen Core i3 or i5 processor and up to 48GB of DDR5 RAM. It packs Wi-Fi 6E, and a range of storage configurations up to 2TB SSDs. As usual, you can choose between Windows 11 or Linux operating systems. Additionally, the Framework Laptop 12 packs four of the brand’s expansion card slots, so you can select the ports and I/O that fit your needs.
In the coming weeks, we’ll find out more about the Framework Laptop 12 release in the United States, which specs and options are available, and whether all four expansion cards will be an option. Then, hopefully, the company can continue to offer more options, upgrades, and configurations.
So, for now, those in the United States won’t be able to pre-order the new Framework 12 Laptop, and I’m curious how things will play out for the Framework 13, too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
