Framework delays its first Laptop 13 Pro shipments by a month

At a glance:

• First‑batch Framework Laptop 13 Pro shipments pushed from late June to late July, with some units possibly arriving in early August.
• The delay is caused by a grounding issue in the new haptic touchpad PCB and a firmware bug in the custom CSOT display.
• Pre‑order deposits are fully refundable; Intel Core Ultra Series 3 mainboards will still ship on schedule in June.

What happened

Framework announced that the flagship Laptop 13 Pro, originally slated for a June launch, will see its first‑batch shipments slip by roughly one month. Customers who pre‑ordered the full Pro system can now expect delivery in late July, with a risk of a few units arriving in early August and the majority of the July batch moving into August. A small tail of orders could even be delayed until early September.

The company communicated the change via email, citing two technical culprits: the newly designed haptic touchpad and a custom display panel supplied by CSOT. Both components encountered issues during the mass‑production ramp that required hardware redesigns and firmware updates before the laptops could be shipped safely.

Why the delay

On the haptic touchpad side, Framework ran through more than a dozen internal firmware releases, but an electrical grounding flaw in the PCB caused the touchpad to reset after repeated clicks. Working with suppliers Lite‑On and Boréas, Framework identified the root cause and commissioned a new PCB layout. The revised boards have passed validation tests—including 200,000 sequential clicks—and are slated to arrive at the final‑assembly factory in mid‑July.

The custom display problem surfaced as a panel‑initialisation bug on a single unit during the production ramp. CSOT traced the issue to an edge‑case in the initialization parameters and produced an updated firmware. This new firmware is expected to be ready around the same time as the updated touchpad modules, allowing the display schedule to stay aligned with the overall laptop timeline.

Impact on customers

Customers who ordered a Laptop 13 Pro with the haptic touchpad or custom display can either wait for the revised shipments or cancel for a full refund of their deposit. Orders that did not include the affected components—such as Intel Core Ultra Series 3 mainboards—will ship on time in June. Framework also noted that press reviews of the full Laptop 13 Pro system will be delayed until July, meaning early adopters will not have independent performance data until then.

Framework reassured that the delayed start to mass production should not cascade into further delays beyond August. The company plans to catch up to its communicated dates by accelerating the assembly of other sub‑assemblies while the new touchpad and display modules are validated.

What to watch next

The next milestones include the arrival of the new haptic touchpad PCBs in mid‑July, the start of display firmware production, and the first shipments of the revised Laptop 13 Pro units in late July. Reviewers will likely publish their hands‑on impressions in July, giving potential buyers a clearer picture of performance on the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors. Customers should monitor Framework’s email updates for any further schedule adjustments, especially if they are part of the later August or September batches.