This machine was introduced, June 2023. This was purchased as a consequence of the HP EliteBook 840 G7 having keyboard issues. Every aspect of this machine just feels great to use. The keyboard is probably the best out there in laptops, the trackpad is fantastic and the screen is far brighter than I can tolerate at maximum. Truly, the Framework 13 is simply splendid.
Specifications
I was very particular about what chose for the hardware of my very first Framework laptop. I ultimately decided to go with the middle of the road Intel based machine. I specifically wanted to have 4 USB type C Thunderbolt 4 ports. I didn’t want to have to mess around with being deliberate about which ports had which capabilities with the AMD Ryzen based machine. There was also some question about getting the full performance out of AMD and I didn’t want to have to mess with the AMD Pro drivers.
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1360P CPU @ (up to 5.0GHz, 4+8 cores)
- 4 performance cores (8 threads)
- 8 efficiency cores
- Total of 16 threads
So far, I am very happy with it. If I made a mistake, on this, I haven’t quite realized that yet.
GPU
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics eligible – no idea what eligible is but that is what is stated on the Intel fact sheet.
You can look at the specs for the GPU specifics such as it has 96 execution units but the part that I care about is that this can support 4 displays.
From a usability perspective, this is the best graphic performance I have had in a laptop… so far.
- Processor Graphics ‡ Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics eligible
- Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 1.50 GHz
- Graphics Output eDP 1.4b, DP 1.4a, HDMI 2.1
- Execution Units 96
- Max Resolution (HDMI)‡ 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
- Max Resolution (DP)‡ 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz
- Max Resolution (eDP – Integrated Flat Panel)‡ 4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
- DirectX Support 12.1
- OpenGL Support 4.6
- OpenCL Support 3.0
- Multi-Format Codec Engines 2
- Intel® Quick Sync Video Yes
- Number of Displays Supported ‡ 4
- Device ID 0xA7A0
RAM
I elected to max the thing out to 64 GB of RAM. It wasn’t really necessary but I thought it would just be fun to do that right out of the gate. I can’t see any near-future need for anything more than what I currently have. Even as I get more sloppy about closing browser tabs and leaving applications and VMs open, I don’t really notice the pressure on my system RAM.
DDR4-3200 – 64GB (2 x 32GB)
Screen
13.5”, 3:2 Ratio Matte Display
- 2256 x 1504
- 100% sRGB
- 1500:1 contrast
- Greater than 400 nit
- Unit of brightness – candela per square meter,
- Another way of putting it is that lumens indicate the amount of light that a projector itself emits, whereas nits measures the amount of light coming off of the projector screen.
I’m perfectly happy with the visual performance of the screen on this machine. I know that the this is not top tier but as far as level of quality, it is on the higher end of that bell curve. Whether it is low light or where that giant mass of incandescent gas is beating down on me, this screen is absolutely fantastic.
Operating System
This machine is running openSUSE Tumbleweed as my operating system of choice. I do run VMs of that within plus other distributions or operating systems, Tumbleweed just works best for me in how I like to use my computer. It is my happy place
Output: /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P/U 4p+8e cores Host Bridge/DRAM Controller
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P [Iris Xe Graphics] (rev 04)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Processor Participant
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake PCIe 4.0 Graphics Port
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 PCI Express Root Port #0
00:07.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device a73f
00:07.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 PCI Express Root Port #2
00:07.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device a71f
00:08.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation GNA Scoring Accelerator module
00:0a.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake Crashlog and Telemetry (rev 01)
00:0d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 USB Controller
00:0d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 NHI #0
00:0d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 NHI #1
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH USB 3.2 xHCI Host Controller (rev 01)
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH Shared SRAM (rev 01)
00:15.0 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH Serial IO I2C Controller #0 (rev 01)
00:15.1 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH Serial IO I2C Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:15.3 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH Serial IO I2C Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH HECI Controller (rev 01)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake AMT SOL Redirection (rev 01)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev 01)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake LPC/eSPI Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Raptor Lake-P/U/H cAVS (rev 01)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Alder Lake PCH-P SMBus Host Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-P PCH SPI Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Sandisk Corp WD Black SN770 / PC SN740 256GB / PC SN560 (DRAM-less) NVMe SSD (rev 01)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
03:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
03:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
05:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
06:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
06:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015]
07:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller
08:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation DSL6540 USB 3.1 Controller [Alpine Ridge]
aa:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) AX210/AX1675* 2x2 [Typhoon Peak] (rev 1a)Battery Performance
The Framework 13 is great at all levels, the one weak spot it has is going to have to be battery performance. Since I purchased the i7 version, I did get the 61 Wh battery (60.60 Wh but who’s counting?
Running it as hard as I do, I comfortably get 5 hours out of it. Running easy doing “normal” people tasks, 7+ hours but not by much. If this thing either had better power performance (probably just not going to happen with a 13th gen i7 in 2024 but maybe with an i5?) or a larger battery, say
If this thing could have something closer to a 70 Wh battery, it would be more than adequate and I wouldn’t even consider battery life as an issue at all. My solution is to have an external battery pack with me, basically all the time. I keep it for my phones as well so a single 65Wh battery has met my needs for mobile power every time. This isn’t ideal but it is good enough and a more than adequate work around.
Final Thoughts
The Framework 13 is by far the BEST laptop I have ever owned. For the tinkerer and geek within me, the fact that this modular, repairable, easy to maintain, etc, that makes this the best laptop ever. I have truly found my forever laptop.
References
Framework Website
HP EliteBook 840 G7
dbrand Framework 13 Skin
Framework 13 | Best Laptop Yet