[Batch 5] I finally received and assembled my Framework 12 laptop and, once I stumbled past the initial WiFi setup issue (used an Ethernet to USB-C adapter to get logged in), I was able to download and install the driver pack which enabled WiFi and BT. I checked the Intel Bluetooth driver version and, much to my surprise, it is quite old already (from May 2024).
For proper Native BT support with Teams and Zoom, it is recommended to install a version from December 2024 or newer (preferably from 2025), but I did not receive this via Windows Update (even through “Optional updates” the latest is 22.200.0.2, the one from Framework is 23.60.0.1, and the latest one on my HP Intel 13th Gen is 23.130.0.3). I can get into more technical details with the team on why the newer Intel drivers are required for better Native BT support.
Can we please get a more recent Intel driver update soon? Since we didn’t receive our laptops until July/August 2025, my expectation is that they would have come with a newer driver pack.
Great to hear! Please let me know if you would like me to Beta test a new driver. I would be happy to as I already use my Framework 12 as a daily driver with Native BT headsets.
I uninstalled that DSA utility after updating my stuff, though, because it was really aggressive about wanting to start at boot and constantly stay running, and I was a little skeeved out at the way Intel’s website running in Firefox was able to open DSA on my PC, implying it’s probably running a local web server or something as a highly-privileged process ripe for exploitation. And sure enough that is the case!
The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi drivers aren’t appreciably different than the ones in the Framework bundle. Those worked fine before, and the still work fine now. There was nothing pushing me to update besides “bigger number == better than” which is obvious fallacious.
The graphics driver on the other hand has seen a steady improvement with each version that I’m documenting in that other thread. I have had improvements with versions of that which are later than the one in even the new beta Framework driver bundle.
