Framework Announces a $499 Laptop

Sustainable laptop maker Framework announced a barebones $499 configuration that leverages its outlet store’s parts bins to achieve this new low price. But there’s a catch: You have to bring your own RAM, too.

“We now have a Framework Laptop 13 barebones configuration available for under $500 for the first time,” Framework’s Nirav Patel writes in the announcement post. “This is the i7-1165G7 model, so it has healthy performance too. Our Factory Seconds systems come without memory and storage, so to reduce the all-in price, we’re making refurbished DDR4 available at half the price of new.”

The good news? That RAM is cheap: 16 GB is going for $30 with this half-price sale, and 32 GB is just $60, making that upgrade a no-brainer. The Factory Seconds Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition (11th Gen Intel Core) Kit, as it’s called, looks like a solid laptop, and as you would expect given the modular design, you can upgrade the processor, RAM, storage, and, well, just about anything else, at design time or at any time in the future.

Tied to this, Framework has also started selling refurbished products in the U.S. and Canada for the first time. These are 13th Gen Intel Core-based products with a 13-inch display but no Wi-Fi, RAM, or storage and a starting price of $779.

Framework also announced that its 16-inch Framework Laptop 16 is now shipping. You can learn more about that product on the Framework website, of course.