Review: Ryzen AI CPU makes this the fastest the Framework Laptop 13 has ever been

Summary

Like the other Ryzen Framework Laptops (both 13 and 16), not all of the Ryzen AI board's four USB-C ports support all the same capabilities, so you'll want to arrange your ports carefully. Framework's recommendations for how to configure the Ryzen AI laptop's expansion modules. Credit: Framework Framework publishes a graphic to show you which ports do what; if you're looking at the laptop from the front, ports 1 and 3 are on the back, and ports 2 and 4 are toward the front. Generally, ports 1 and 3 are the "better" ones, supporting full USB4 speeds instead of USB 3.2 and DisplayPort 2.0 instead of 1.4. But USB-A modules should go in ports 2 or 4 because they'll consume extra power in bays 1 and 3. All four do support display output, though, which isn't the case for the Ryzen 7040 Framework board, and all four continue to support USB-C charging. The situation has improved from the 7040 version of the Framework board, where not all of the ports could do any kind of display output. But it still somewhat complicates the laptop's customizability story relative to the Intel versions, where any expansion card can go into any port. The Ryzen AI board uses a modified heatsink design with one large heatpipe instead of two smaller ones and a heatsink that extends to cover more motherboard components. Andrew Cunningham The Ryzen AI board uses a modified heatsink design with one large heatpipe instead of two smaller ones and a heatsink that extends to cover more motherboard components. Andrew Cunningham The old heatsink design in the Ryzen 7040 version of the laptop, for reference. Andrew Cunningham The old heatsink design in the Ryzen 7040 version of the laptop, for reference. Andrew Cunningham The Ryzen AI board uses a modified heatsink design with one large heatpipe instead of two smaller ones and a heatsink that extends to cover more motherboard components. Andrew Cunningham The old heatsink design in the Ryzen 7040 version of the laptop, for reference. Andrew Cunningham I w...