I know that Framework doesn’t discuss upcoming product plans, etc., and I’m sorry to be that guy, but it sure would be nice to have some idea regarding an Intel refresh for the Framework 13.
Not everyone wants to go AMD, for a bunch of different reasons (e.g. worse Thunderbolt support, needing to redo my entire Linux kernel config, etc.) – meanwhile, the Framework 13 did not receive a Core Ultra Series 2 update, meaning that we’re still on chips from Q4 2023 unless you want to switch to AMD.
Since Framework won’t comment on upcoming plans blah-dee-blah-dee-blah, maybe we can at least use this thread to express enthusiasm for an Ultra Series 3 update? I’m still stuck on my 13th gen Intel board, and I’m itching to upgrade it.
I’d be interested. I like the efficiency of the Arrow Lake / Core Ultra 2xx I have for work, I think that a third-gen Core Ultra, Panther Lake on the new and highly efficient “Intel 18 Angstrom” chipmaking process will be even better.
Linux lets you do it how you like it, I do for general all-drivers initramfs and can move my disks between devices, but I figure you match your kernel build and driver support to the device. I’m glad you do it how you like it. (How I like it is AMD and I’d expect that an upgrade to my FW 13” AMD moving to a Core Ultra third-gen just needs extra firmware, for the Xe³ graphics, in my initrd.)
In some ways it makes sense to keep product plans private but also, when all of your competition is actively at CES showing people what to look forward to purchasing in the coming months, silence starts to become a business problem.
People are always looking for laptops. If Framework said they are looking at releasing a new FW13 with Core Ultra Series 3 / AMD 400 series with several other (optional) improvements like a haptic touchpad, OLED display option, etc… I think that would get some attention.
Count me in the been waiting for Panther Lake to upgrade boat. My 13th gen mainboard is doing fine but with a couple of wrinkles in the rug introduced by the latest BIOS. But I have family that will need a new laptop soon and hoping to upgrade mine and pass the 13th off to them. Not looking forward to having to splash out for DDR5 with today’s gouging , but …
The only CPUs in the Panther Lake lineup that support SO-DIMM are those with the Intel Graphics on Intel’s 3 process node and with only 4 Xe cores which sounds very anemic.
I don’t know how framework would offer decent GPU performance while still keeping sodimm. Maybe they will have to sell soldered memory, or do some LPCAMM2 stuff (unlikely).
I’m buying a series 3 framework motherboard on the first batch if they release it.
I have a 7640 and AMD still hasn’t made ROCm work on that while intel even has the NPU support. I would reuse the 5600 32GB DDR5 I have for that until RAM prices normalize. I’ll likely get a bigger SSD and reuse everything else. My first motherboard laptop upgrade
I don’t think we’ll get LPCAMM for DDR5. The RAM apocalypse has likely killed any chance of that happening. For DDR6 it would be a no brainer, it’s a clean slate anyway, and a free way to get better signal integrity. But we are likely talking 2029 at the earliest for that to happen.
I’m still running a Core Ultra Series 1 in my Framework 13 and am waiting to upgrade hopefully to the series 3 whenever Framework releases something. Intel’s new CPUs on the 18A process seems like a pretty significant upgrade.
I am also very excited for an Intel Framework refresh. As the IT head of my company, I’ve had too many random issues with AMD processors that while minor would be a headache if I had to help people troubleshoot. I think the biggest aspect is the better Thunderbolt support on Intel.
I am holding off as long as I can from new Frameworks until an Intel refresh is released so hopefully soon!
