Framework 13 With AMD Ryzen 7040 Series Makes For A Great Linux Laptop
For those in the market for an AMD Ryzen 7040 series (Zen 4) laptop, the Framework 13 laptop is a great option for those wanting a Linux-friendly device and is a rare breed in being a completely upgradeable laptop similar to Framework's Intel laptop models. I've been testing out the Framework Laptop 13 the past month and after a BIOS update has been working out wonderfully on Linux.
While there was an initial BIOS issue affecting the integrated graphics for the Framework 13 AMD, later in October an updated BIOS was made available and since then this AMD Zen 4 modular laptop has been working out great under Linux. While the initial BIOS regression causing graphics issues were frustrating, at least with Framework embracing Linux they make their system firmware/BIOS updates available via Fwupd/LVFS for easy firmware updates on Linux. Since that latest BIOS release I haven't been challenged by any Linux issues with this laptop.
The Framework Laptop 13 is just as upgradeable and modular as the original Framework laptop with Intel hardware. Everything from the motherboard to battery are easily replaceable as well as the various ports of the laptop. There are four bays on the Framework laptop for choosing your combination of USB-C / USB-A / HDMI / DisplayPort / microSD / Ethernet / audio ports on the laptop.
It's refreshing how upgradeable the Framework Laptop is and now the company has proved itself across 11th Gen / 12th Gen / 13th Gen Intel Core processors with upgradeable motherboards and now their first product on the AMD side with this Ryzen 7040 series offering. Since looking at the original Framework laptop in 2021, there's been new customization options to come too such as different bezel options.
Another pleasant change since looking at the original Framework laptop in 2021 has been the company providing even better Linux support. Framework has improved their Linux documentation and making further inroads to ensure their Linux customers have a great experience. Frame.work/linux outlines the compatibility items for their Intel and AMD based laptops. For their Ryzen 7040 series laptop they are recommending Fedora 39 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, but of course newer distributions also work great like Ubuntu 23.10. The only notable Linux support caveat for the current hardware is possible fingerprint reader issues if not running on the latest firmware. The level of documentation around setting up Linux on the Framework laptop is among the best I've seen from any hardware vendor for helping out novice Linux users getting started or just trying to find out about any possible/necessary workarounds depending upon your distribution.
Another excellent aspect of the new Framework 13 (and 16) AMD laptops is that the EC firmware is open-source. The embedded controller is based on the Google Chromebook EC and making use of Zephyr. With most laptop vendors not providing open-source EC support while the EC is often the source of various quirky behavior and bugs faced by users, having Framework support an open-source EC is refreshing. One step further it would be great if the Framework 13 AMD laptop made use of Coreboot, but alas that's not the case. Hopefully though that will become more of a reality as AMD OpenSIL hits production in ~2026 and that we continue seeing more open-source firmware efforts invested by Framework.
With many Linux pre-loaded laptops still using AMD Zen 3 (or older) SoCs, it's great Framework is making use of Zen 4 as the performance and power benefits are very much worth it as I've shared across various other laptop benchmarking articles... Zen 4 with efficient AVX-512 and all of its other architectural improvements are great and having integrated RDNA3 graphics is wonderful. Let's move on to looking at some benchmarks of the Framework 13 AMD laptop and thanks to Framework for providing this laptop for review.