Welcome to the community!
I used the FW 13 as my “daily use” machine for a couple years after it came out. I have been using the FW 12 as my daily use machine since it released. So I have quite a bit of use on both.
Keep in mind, all of this experience is with the i5-1334u version, not the Core Series 3 version that is releasing soon.
Here are some thoughts from using both.
Performance:
The difference is noticeable. My FW 13 has the Ryzen 7 7840u. For general use, the Framework 12 is more than fast enough. But the FW 13 simply is noticeably faster. Depending on what I’m doing, it might mean that a program opening up is a tiny bit less instant or smooth (noticeable, but not really affecting my use in any way), to having to wait much longer for a video to transcode in Handbrake. But the amount of times I’m doing anything that takes meaningfully longer is really small, so the performance difference doesn’t really bother me.
Heat:
The Framework 12 gets noticeably warm on the bottom more often than the FW 13, but since it’s plastic, it isn’t bothersome very often. And I LOVE that the fan intake and exhaust are both on the back of the FW 12. I can lay it on my lap, or whatever surface and not worry that I’m blocking the vents, like I did on the FW 13 which has the fan intake vent on the bottom.
I’m hoping the heat will be reduced a bit during normal, everyday stuff with thew new Core Series 3 processors, but we’ll see.
Display:
The display on the FW 13 is higher resolution and the color is definitely better. Noticeably better. You don’t have to have an artist’s or color grader’s eye to notice the deficiency of the FW 12 display. I do hope they eventually release a better display for the 12. But, for normal, daily use, even watching videos and such, it’s totally fine for me. Reds seem to be the worst, looking more orange than red. So if there is something on screen that I know is supposed to be red, I might notice that it looks orange. That kind of thing makes colors overall a bit…off. However, I did calibrate my display and it helped a bit. FW12 poor screen colour accuracy - #23 by BigT But it couldn’t create reds that the display cannot produce. So it’s still not great. But like I said, I’ve used it every day for web browsing, email, media consumption (videos, podcasts, music, etc.), some very light photo editing, some casual drawing, word processing, video and audio injest from cameras and audio gear, etc. Virtually daily use since they first released. The display isn’t great, and it’s definitely a step down from the 13’s display (the original or the 2.8K version). But it gets reasonbly bright for what it is, the contrast is decent, and it gets me by.
Ergos:
The Framework 12 wins for me in a lot of ways, and it’s why it became my daily use machine. The softer, rounder top is slightly more comfortable to type on, though I do slightly prefer the feel of the FW 13’s keyboard. The FW 12 also has the aforementioned rear intake and exhaust vents, so that’s convenient in use for me. It also has the option to flip into tablet mode, and while the chassis cracking problem is annoying, I’m less worried about scratching or denting the case when travelling, using it out in the garage, etc., than I was with the Framework 13. Yes, the case cracking issue is a shame. But I showed that when subject to a bit of “hard use,” it holds up quite well. Framework 12 Durability Testing!
Battery Life:
I actually got a bit better battery life out of the Framework 13. The Framework 13 Pro supposedly has even better battery life. The new Core Series 3 chips in the upcoming boards for the Framework 12 should improve battery life, but maybe not to the extent of the 13 Pro. I appreciate long battery life, but in all reality, I’m never too far from some kind of ability to charge, so it isn’t a huge concern for me.
Ultimately, for me and my use case, the Framework 12 wins as a daily use machine. The ability to use a stylus, the slightly more rough and tumble chassis with rear heat intake/exhaust, the 2-in-1 design, all together just make it something that makes sense for me to grab whenever I need to look something up, swap some files between various storage media, do a bit of writing, listen to/watch something, etc.
As for your use cases, I can’t say. Hopefully my thoughts help you pick what will work best for you. Cheers!