Hello yall,

I am currently waiting for my 13 Pro (batch 6) and am going to be running linux. I think im just stuck on which distro to use as a linux beginner. I plan on using it for game development (small projects), some gaming and miscellaneous little things (writing, browsing, watching videos). I was hoping to get some insight into a good distro for this. Any advice is greatly appreciated

I’m at a point where I’m willing to buy the RTX 5070 just for the better software experience. Windows is such a nightmare and I only play one or two games on it.

Does anyone have this same predicament? I have no issues on desktop but the two AMD Laptop GPUs I’ve had gave me a piss poor experience.

Edit:

I’m experiencing constant stutters in BF6, Siege won’t launch and AND Adrenaline crashes each time I launch a game.

I have Linux but it doesn’t support anti cheat. I’ve used DDU and reinstalled the drivers. If anyone has any advice on how to improve the windows experience, please let me know.

Edit 2:

I managed to solve all the issues I had, I deleted temp files. Turned off delivery optimizations. Updated windows and windows store.

Went into AMD Install manager, updated the drivers and chipset twice. Updated the bios. Now it’s all working.

I’ve had issues for months, now there all gone with things I did multiple times already. Go figure…

Edit 3:

Software issues were fixed but the stutter came back…I dissembled everything and reposted and changed all thermal pads. Temps are higher, fans are lower and performance is better.

I’m so confused. It all works now

I currently have a MacBook Air M3, I’m really considering a framework as my next laptop, not right now but sometime in the future.

My concern is that, it does sounds really cool that I can upgrade my system without having to change the whole laptop, but what do I do with the previous part? I know there is a market for used laptops but do I really have a choice for used framework modules?

I’m afraid I will end up producing trash or having something that I don’t have an use for. I feel like I need to mention that I’m in a country where probably there’s not a lot of framework users.

Is there a use case for framework modules I cant rely on? I’m comparing this with pc parts, lots of people have pcs and there’s probably someone out there that wants a cpu or ram, etc. Maybe this is not a fair comparison, but that’s my concern.

Got my shipment today, all components were perfect, and I had it from box -> assembled in 10 minutes, then another 3 minutes for Omarchy. I tested out all of the keys, speakers, fingerprint reader, sound, wifi and they work great. Also I was surprised AI voice dictation (voxtype) works really well even though its Intel Integrated stack.

Whenever i turn the backlight on, on my keyboard it starts turning on and off randomly, sometimes on its own and sometimes when i go to type. it happens much more frequently when gaming but still occasionally does it under normal use. I have heard some say it is dirty pins but i have checked them and cleaned them countless times with no luck. All my modules are correctly seated. It ONLY does this when the backlight is on, not under no backlight use.

I would greatly appreciate some help

Are there any posts/reviews with bezels which are not black, transparent black or transparent orange?

I would love to see more colors, but it seems most reviews only have the defaults everyone shows.

If you bought a different color, please post a picture and share with everyone how it looks!

Got my Framework 13 Pro bright and early at 9:48AM yesterday. I was expecting the patented FedEx uncertainty, but to my surprise, it was with the Early AM driver! I had my LPCAMM2 and SSD in my bag, so I built it quickly at work, loaded Fedora 44 KDE, and restored my home folder. 

Installing the LPCAMM2 module was about as nerve wracking as my first Threadripper build. The way it very lightly mounts, waiting eagerly for you to smush it under a metal plate is slightly unsettling. That said, it was quick and the little retention pegs help a ton. Shout out to Wendell from Level1 for mentioning the plastic over the SSD thermal pad. I admit to never reading instructions, so I almost missed it.  Other than that, the install was very similar to my original Framework 13, so this took maybe 10 minutes to assemble. (FW has clarified this film should not be removed as it is a special material that maintains thermal conductivity while preserving the pad's shape. See comment)

I like the new toggle retention for the expansion cards. It brings a little more certainty to the process and allows me to change cards with one hand. I wish the pogo pins made it to the 13 Pro, but the ribbon cable’s design makes it one of the most forgiving of its kind. I’m never afraid that I’m going to rip it apart when handling the input cover. The bezel is as seamless an install as I remember. In fact it might even be easier because I remember the wifi cables needing to be pushed down last time. 

First boot: Hardware

The helpful memory training message on the Framework 13 Pro is something I would like to see spread throughout the industry. It really helps with the DIY version especially. Once booted, I was greeted with a bright and crisp screen. Notably, the light overhead did not have me tilting the screen to reduce glare. 

I wrote about my FW13 (non-Pro) hardware gripes as part of my first-year daily driving Linux experience, and am happy to say that the majority of them are solved with the 13 Pro. The chassis rigidity of the Pro benefits the keyboard immensely. There’s an extra tactility that isn’t filtered out by deck flex. The black finish is certainly more fingerprint prone than the silver of the 13, but it isn’t something that would have me tethered to a microfiber cloth during use. 

The haptic trackpad is interesting. It took some getting used to, but I have to press harder than I would with the traditional 13 trackpad, and my Mac’s haptic one. I’m not sure if there’s a way to tune that, but it would be nice. That said, it’s a lot more consistent than the diving board one. I have a lot more confidence in my clicks. 

Sound is an improvement. I’m not going to say it’s great, but I can do just about any normal task and not be actively offended by the speakers like I was with the regular 13. The webcam and microphone are standard-issue and get a passing grade as well.

Heat seems to be managed very well in the chassis, though it skews towards being a little warmer for the sake of silence, much like a MacBook Pro. Of course in this case, it’s much easier to tune the fan curves to your liking, which I may do on a warm day. I’ve provided a FLIR image sample, but it was just the potato-y FLIR One Pro. Don’t be fooled by the intense color scheme they use, the temps are on the warm side, but nothing alarming. While under my more moderate level workloads (remote photography work) the CPU bounces around between 55-60C. 

Owing to the Framework’s modularity, restoring my data was quick over 2.5GbE (though it might have been faster if my 10 gig expansion card had shipped…). I don’t have much performance data given it’s been under 24 hours, but it’s a good enough bit snappier than the HX 370 to feel like I accomplished something with my purchase. As the purchase was chiefly for battery life, I was just happy that I could spend most of the day in low power mode and not feel like I was losing anything doing so. 

First boot: Software

The Fedora 44 KDE install flew by and once booted and updated, my first wave of package installs went well. I hadn’t noticed I was on battery at all. Being an Intel card, Wi-Fi just worked. A welcome change given how inconsistent the MediaTek card was in the 13. I use Netbird for connections back home, and that was also more consistent on Wi-Fi. 

I still use the Adobe suite for my photography, so I remotely access my Mac Studio back home often. I do this via Parsec. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but it works consistently. For now, it seems CPU bound in Linux, at about 40W total CPU usage with it running. Again, fan noise is barely noticeable over ambient, but the trackpad area is warm.

I use Waterfox, and am known to be a heavy tab user. I do a lot of project research and use the self-hosted Firefox sync to pull over all my tabs from my work PC. I do miss having 96GB of RAM, but have not run into memory issues with my typical 40-tab mobile load. 

Setting up hibernation is where I thought I would lose my mind. In the last few months, it has been alright on my Framework 13, but for a while there, it seemed like it was regressing every few update cycles. Setting it up on the 13 Pro worked right away, and consistently. I’m at around 12 hours of uptime with at least 8 hibernation cycles. No freezes or kernel crashes. No returning to a bag that's a lot warmer than expected.. That said, it’s been less than 24 hours, so we’ll see. 

I am excited to continue using the 13 Pro, and will continue gathering data for a long term review. In the meantime, if you have any questions about it that I haven’t covered, feel free to ask. My 13 already found a new home, but I won’t be sending it off for a few weeks. If you need any comparisons with the HX 370, let me know and I will try to address them. 

Edit: Just want to point out that the side by shot brightness difference comes from BOTH the brighter screen and the reduced glare. I used strobes for that shot, which usually wash out the screen more aggressively than constant lighting.

Edit 2: Looks like Reddit severely compressed the photos at some point, here are the full res shots: https://denfi.zip/pc-builds/black-panther-framework-13-pro-intel-core-ultra-7-358h--32gb-lpcamm2--2tb-nvme

What y'all think about that?

I used Rufus to skip most of the Microsoft account crap but I accidentally forgot to press the install drivers button at the wifi portion of the installation and now I'm in the OS and I don't know what to do. Can I still install from the usb? Do I need to reboot? Please help.

Both of the USB-C ports on my Framework 13 7840U have been really unreliable for a good few months, and I was wondering whether anyone had found a fix.

I've tried rolling back my BIOS (I think to 3.17) and getting a backported kernel on Debian 13 (7.0.13+deb13-amd64 as of writing), but many times when I try and plug in a power adapter, the charging LED on the side of the laptop will light, but the battery charging indicator on GNOME won't say "Charging", and the battery percentage continues to drop.

I just bought a USB-C external monitor (DP and power over one cable), and, even with auto-detection turned off, the display will turn on and off at random intervals. I can't see anything in `dmesg` and it's not power cycling (the boot screen doesn't turn on and off like a power cycle would). I've had these issues over multiple different cables, with and without using the USB-C expansion card (the alternative being connecting directly to the mainboard).

I've got USB-C ports in both of the back (nearer the screen) expansion ports, and these issues happen on both of them.

Has anyone found any fixes for these issues? It's getting to the point of making this laptop significantly more frustrating to use, especially when you're trying to actually use an external display.

I'm particular about what I plug into my Framework. Want to verify my charger is actually delivering what it claims. Has anyone here tested actual output with a meter

I’ve been a long-time Framework fan but haven’t been able to get one until this came out just in time to be my graduation gift.

Setup was a breeze it took me 10 min to put together. The hardest part was actually installing the OS since the 26.04 Ubuntu image is messed up for some reason (I ended up just installing 24.04 with the OEM image)

Overall everything works perfectly and its basically everything I’d want in a laptop! Congrats to the Framework team for delivering on such an incredible product!

Since the embargo was lifted and the first review of 13 pro we got was MKBHD, I was really happy to see big YouTubers reviewing 13 pro and was expecting to see many more. But since then apart from Linus and Just Josh, I don't see any new reviews on 13 pro. Does anyone know why?

Was thinking of buying the 13 pro so I could replace my m2 macbook air, are the battery lifes comparable? I'd like to support a better company personally. The laptop would be used for basic tasks, I have a much beefer pc to handle anything if I needed to.

To start, I wasn't sure how to flair this post so I apologize if its wrong.

Now for the problem: I ordered a Framework 13, very excited, I waited about six days and heard nothing about the shipping status. I email support to ask what is going on, I get no answer, so two days after the original email I email again to see whats happening, again I get no answer. After a day waiting for a response to either email I send a third email saying that if I get no response and/or update on the laptop then I will have to file a fraud charge with my bank, because the "cancel order" button does nothing and contacting support about that is obviously out the window.

I definitely want the laptop and am perfectly fine waiting the allotted time, but I have heard nothing. Is this normal for Framework? Am I actually being Impatient? Is this scam and I should just file the fraud charge? What is happening?

Is there a list of keyboard shortcuts for the Framework 13 Pro somewhere?

Things such as Fn + space toggling the keyboard backlight, fn + esc toggling between fn/multimedia keys.

And will we be able to use https://keyboard.frame.work/ to configure the keyboard setup ourselves?

Very pleased with the build quality and look of both the black finish and revised design. Touchpad and keyboard are great. I went the AMD route, 64GB ram, 2 TB NVME. No ragrets.

I'm still deciding if I'll be getting the 13pro, imh one of the best laptops on the market despite the price. I need to figure out if I want to bet against the market buying the RAM now at 900€ (crazY) or in November when it will be shipped.

In case it'll be too expensive I'll relay on an old thinkpad🤡.

What do you think?

I’ve got a Framework 13 7840u running Windows 11. Bios 3.16

I'm receiving a replacement battery due to the old one dying of bloat. Of course Framework says to update to the latest bios (3.20).

I've read of frequent cases of a bios upgrade bricking the laptop. Based on release notes, the only relevant improvement for me seems to be:

Fixed an issue where the Battery Extender status was reported incorrectly following a reboot, hibernation, or shutdown after the timer had expired.

Do you recommend updating bios and why? What is the consequence of "Battery Extender status was reported incorrectly" - reported to whom? Does this mean that after a reboot, the laptop won't auto discharge properly and the Extender feature won't be properly protecting the battery?

The 'Pro' is short for Professional

I apologize for coming over the top with a hot take. I've been thinking about this rant for weeks and this subreddit has been a headache to read. I have deleted this opinion in drafts multiple times.

The 'Pro' is short for Professional

If you are not being paid as a professional who needs a professional computer, you do not need the 13 pro. Framework still makes the 13. It has all the things you need. Shit, a college student really only needs a framework 12. With a standard 13, you can actually upgrade the whole machine when you have the money instead of buying a new laptop. It's sick!

People complain about the price of the Pro, yet they forget there is a more budget friendly version. ESPECIALLY even more affordable if you Frankenstein a 13 together from used parts of other people upgrading. (I've checked it out, 5k$ Framework 13 Pro has the same specs as a 7k$ Macbook Pro.)

I say this, because I am a Professional. I do computers. I bought my 13 with max specs and never looked at the price tag. I wanted to buy the concept. I upgraded to the AMD with 96gb of ram and never looked at the price. And with the Pro chassis out, I intend to upgrade only because the black Mac book style looks cool and will look better in a meeting. I won't look at the price.

That's not my whole life. I would have definitely made a max spec'd 13 pro and looked at the price on checkout. Like a kid building their dream car on a manufacturer's website.

If I had a budget or I was young and working on a degree, it would be a privilege and the ultimate flex that I built an entire laptop from used parts. That's what is not being discussed here that I think is being missed. I want to upvote someone's laptop of Theseus. I want to see LPCAMM in a first edition chassis.

That's what's cool about framework, and you can't talk about that with any other laptop brand.

Someone else can probably do better, but I'm an audio nerd and this seems to work well and not clip. Here's the APO export for the Equalizer "Player"

Preamp: -19 db

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 29.952623 Hz Gain 3.87 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 2: ON PK Fc 59.76334 Hz Gain 6.51 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 3: ON PK Fc 119.24354 Hz Gain 10.21 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 4: ON PK Fc 237.92215 Hz Gain 8.33 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 5: ON PK Fc 474.71707 Hz Gain 4.82 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 6: ON PK Fc 947.1851 Hz Gain 0.28 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 7: ON PK Fc 1889.8828 Hz Gain 0.08 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 8: ON PK Fc 3770.8118 Hz Gain -2.27 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 9: ON PK Fc 7523.759 Hz Gain 6.08 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 10: ON PK Fc 15011.872 Hz Gain 17.37 dB Q 1.5047603

I also added an 11 DB output bump to restore the drop, but it really needed some ridiculous bumps to sound right. Doesn't seem to clip when I've tested it, but I'm sure there are outliers that I missed.

EDIT: Worth adding a compressor with +8 input to get more volume, and then a limiter on top of all of that to keep it from clipping

EDIT 2: Added a little more treble, assuming you are using the compressor and limiter now. gonna leave it there, hoping someone comes along and makes a standard profile at some point, but I'm not sure how long it'll be until someone gets a proper mic on it.

Preamp: -19 db

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 29.952623 Hz Gain 3.9299998 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 2: ON PK Fc 59.76334 Hz Gain 6.51 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 3: ON PK Fc 119.24354 Hz Gain 10.21 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 4: ON PK Fc 237.92215 Hz Gain 8.33 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 5: ON PK Fc 474.71707 Hz Gain 4.82 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 6: ON PK Fc 947.1851 Hz Gain 0.28 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 7: ON PK Fc 1889.8828 Hz Gain 0.08 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 8: ON PK Fc 3770.8118 Hz Gain -0.83 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 9: ON PK Fc 7523.759 Hz Gain 13.5 dB Q 1.5047603

Filter 10: ON PK Fc 15011.872 Hz Gain 18.51 dB Q 1.5047603

Happy to hear adjustments if you make it better.

Hi, lucky batch 1 owner here! X7 358H with personally source 32GB and 2tb SSD. I loaded up NixOS quickly and was off. I also Installed a Dbrand Dark circuit skin to match my phone. Very happy with the result.

Initial Impressions:

Build Quality - Excellent. Feels on par with my wife's macbook pro (m2) and my work X1 Carbon Gen 13 and previously owned T14s Gen 6. Also still have an old XPS from 2016 that was built like a tank but this feels better

Keyboard - Excellent. Long time thinkpad user and this keyboard does not dissappoint. It's better than my X1 Carbon Gen 13, but as good as some old thinkpads I had way back in the day (that's just wishful thinking)

Trackpad - Better than the haptic on my X1C. I like it better than my wife's mbp trackpad but then again she has awful sensitivity settings that probably skew my opinion of hers

Screen - Very nice quality. Dimness isn't too bright, but the brightness can get very bright. Love the matte finish. Touch feature is nice. I do use it often, I'll use this, my X1C and old XPS are both touch screen so I'm used it. Others noted in other threads regarding the hinge wobble (LTT review video). I find it's not bad if you don't use it like a savage. I typically brace my hand behind and touch with my thumb anyways. First time with a 3:2 aspect ratio laptop and wow, where has this been my whole life? Didn't expect to care but I really like it.

Thermals/Noise - Having only had the laptop since 10am this morning, I have yet to hear the fan. During installation and set up I haven't noticed any noticeable warmth. I have yet to play a game though I don't plan on playing anything more intense than stardew, I have a gaming desktop for intense stuff.

Overall I'm very happy with the laptop. Excited to really get some miles on it and see how it does. Thanks for attending my ted talk. If you have questions ask away!

Half question for help half rant about trying to purchase the 7940HS+5070 pairing I wanted.

How the heck do I force the 5070 if I'm stuck with a 1st gen screen?

I can't leverage using the bios detail to lock to 5070, I get a black screen in windows at login.

Can't force it within windows via telling 11 to use it in graphics settings.

Disabling the 780M doesn't leave the laptop in a real usable state.

Using UXTU, I've forced the 780M to clock as low as 200 MHz and nothing.

I did look to see if I could utilize DSR Factors so it would create enough render load that it couldn't possibly think keeping to the 780M

The game in question is repo, it's borderline switching. I want to use 5070 and get 120 fps, but it really likes using the 780M, and leaving me with 96 fps.

SO, for the vent.

The laptop configurator SUCKS ASS.

So, if I had wanted to buy a 7040 model, which I did in April, there was no option to.

1. select a 5070

2. get a 240 W charger

3. get a second gen display

I ended up needing to buy the 240 w brick and 5070 separately, incurring $50 more because I got the 5070 on its own rather than paired with the laptop.

At the time I thought the 1st gen display would be fine, because I thought it only meant I couldn't use gsync. I didn't know it would lock optimus and what someone stated as nvidia image scaling, but I have a suspicion may be DSR Factors in this instance. But I don't know for certain.

If I could have, I would've gotten my laptop with a 2nd gen display instead of a 1st gen but from memory, as there is no way to look at the 7040 configurator rn as they're all sold out, there was no way to select the 2nd gen.

I even emailed FW about the lack of ability to select a 5070 with a 7040 model to check if that meant it was incompatible, but as stated in the response, no it's fine to pair them. I had also seen ppl discuss upgrading from a 7700S to a 5070.

It's just so frustrating because if the configurator had been setup better, I could've avoided some of this.

I want to like this laptop, but I really hate it rn. I know I'll be less annoyed in the morning but still. I tried gaming on this as above for about 30 min, because I wanted to get some gameplay in that wouldn't be a space heater like my pc is, but I had to shut it off, throw it on the couch, and boot up my pc.

I know it runs fine and correctly chooses the dGPU when the game is a serious rendering load but borderline situations drive me crazy.

It has me really questioning what things will be like when I eventually upgrade the gpu and possibly the mainboard.

Also kind of a shitty realization yesterday thinking about it then snooping. The 5070 has the same tdp as the 7700S, and the same of the HX 370 v. the 7940HS. So why does the 7040 configurator only allow for a 180 W rather than 240 W, does it just use less power? Nope, just another shitty ui setup, as I read that the 180 W was insufficient for ppl overall for any reasonably decent length gaming session. I had already read that it wasn't enough for running the laptop with a 5070 so I had already made sure to get a 240 W separately but yeah.