I’m looking into upgrading my Framework Intel 11th gen to Intel 13th gen. Trying to understand what new parts I need. Previously upgraded to the updated CNC top cover/hinge, updated to AX210 (non-vPro) wifi card, and installed the 11th gen RTC battery replacement.
Naturally 13th gen motherboard is needed. I believe my RAM, M.2 SSD, and wifi card should be compatible (hardware-wise).
But I would love any ideas on other parts that may also be needed or revised parts worth upgrading. I am fine with the original display for now. What about webcam? Misc cables/adapters? Do I need a RTC Battery (or is that included with the motherboard)? Is the upgraded battery worth it? Are there any WiFi 7 cards compatible?
Nothing else is needed! It’s all just optional things that you may want with your new mainboard.
It’ll work fine with your old webcam, screen, battery, etc!
Afaik 11th and 13th gen are inter-compatible enough that you don’t actually need to change any other parts to make the swap.
Your laptop has the first revision of the 1st Gen webcam.
The 13th gen laptops came with the second revision of the 1st Gen webcam. The second revision has a tiny reduction in power consumption compared to the first revision, however I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to it as the boost is tiny. (Edit: If you want to upgrade webcam I suggest going to the 2nd Gen webcam as that is actually higher quality)
The new motherboard uses the main battery to power the RTC system so it has no need for a dedicated RTC battery.
It is a 10% boost over the capacity of the original battery (compared to when the original battery was new). Is that worth it to you?
Yes. Intel, Qualcomm, and MediaTek (MediaTek’s cards are often branded as AMD due to a partnership between them) all have WiFi 7 cards that should work. The Intel BE200 Wi-Fi card is the most popular option for Wi-Fi 7 on Intel based Framework laptops (although there seem to be firmware issues preventing it from working on AMD based Framework laptops).
The only remaining difference (that hasn’t yet been mentioned in this thread) between the 13th gen Framework Laptop 13 and the 11th gen Framework Laptop 13 is that the 13th gen Framework Laptop 13 included speakers that are louder, especially at the frequencies of human voices. However those speakers have less accurate audio fidelity, so it’s more of a side-grade rather than an upgrade.
Nitpick: The “61 Wh” battery is rated at 60.6 Wh, Framework just rounds it up to 61 Wh. So it is actually only 10% higher capacity.
Seconding the excellent performance of the new webcam.
Cosmetically:
if you’ve taken the bezel off as many times as I have, it may have magnets falling out or a plastic corner of the hinge cover separating from its press-fit into the actual bezel. Buy a replacement with your order so you don’t have to pay another international shipping charge…
If you’d like to remove Microsoft branding, the Linux international english keyboard is out and features a super key. I pulled the super cap and replaced it on my US english keyboard. It’s good for me to have a spare keyboard (rather than full input cover) lying around so I can be more fine-grained in my diagnosis of the broken keys issue if it pops up on what is now my third input cover.
I have a few different colors and I’ve swapped between over the years. Right now I’m on the black that it shipped with, that’s the only one that’s separating.