Framework gives its 13-inch Laptop another boost with Ryzen AI 300 CPU update

This Framework board will be the first to meet Microsoft’s requirements for the Copilot+ PC label, including still-in-preview features like Windows Recall. Copilot+ PCs support additional AI features that regular Windows 11 PC features don’t, and to run those features locally on your PC, Microsoft requires a neural processing unit (NPU) with the performance of at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). The Ryzen AI 300 board will be Framework’s third with a built-in NPU—the AMD Ryzen 7040 and Intel Meteor Lake versions have them, too—but the first with an NPU that meets the Copilot+ requirements.

Framework says it will continue to sell older Ryzen 7040-based motherboards, too, at a slightly reduced price of $749. These are older processors, but they’re not that old—AMD still sells slightly warmed-over versions of the exact same silicon under its “Ryzen 200” branding.

Other odds and ends

Framework almost always uses a new board as an opportunity to release another batch of updated and revised accessories for current and future Framework Laptop 13 owners.

This time around, the company is giving the laptop a “new second-generation keyboard,” which retains “the same awesome-feeling 1.5mm key travel” but modifies wider keys like shift and the spacebar to “[reduce] buzzing when your speakers are cranked up.” The revision of the keyboard shipped with pre-built Windows laptops also adds Microsoft’s Copilot key, though a version with no Windows or Copilot branding (and a platform-agnostic Super key with the Framework gear logo in place of the Windows logo key) is still available for the DIY editions.

The other accessory update is cosmetic: Framework is now selling translucent purple, green, and black bezels and USB-C expansion cards you can use to add a little flair to your laptop. These will join the non-translucent orange, green, purple, and red USB-C expansion cards in Framework’s online store.