The Framework Laptop 13 Pro ⇢

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I think the most interesting company in the personal computer space may be Framework, the small company dedicated to making repairable and upgradeable notebooks and desktops. It launched its first laptop — named the Framework Laptop 13 — in 2021 and you can still replace and upgrade components in it five years later. It started with an 11th-gen Intel Core processor, but now can run up to AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. A bunch of other things have been added as well, including support for Wi-Fi 7, a 2.8K display, more robust keyboard, and more. All of that is on top of being able to replace the SSD, battery, and RAM in just a few minutes.

In those same five years, Framework has launched two additional notebooks and a desktop. Each of these products has its own tradeoffs and features, meaning just about anyone interested in something like that can find a machine that meets their needs.

This week, the company introduced a fourth laptop, the Laptop 13 Pro. Here’s a bit from the press release:

Today, we’re happy to introduce Framework Laptop 13 Pro, a complete ground up redesign that brings a massive leap in battery life with Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 Processors, a 74Wh battery, and LPCAMM2 memory, a new full CNC aluminum chassis, our first purpose-built power-optimized display with touch support, an excellent feeling haptic touchpad, an option for pre-loaded Ubuntu, and much more. In many ways, this product has been six years in the making. We’ve taken all of the feedback you’ve given us on the first seven generations of Framework Laptop 13 to make this the ultimate portable developer and power user machine. With all of this, it’s still a Framework Laptop, meaning it’s repairable, upgradeable, customizable, and entirely yours to do what you want with. Framework Laptop 13 Pro is available to pre-order today, starting at $1,199 USD for DIY Edition and $1,499 USD for pre-built configurations, with first shipments in June.

There’s also a walk-through video on the company’s YouTube channel:

The new aluminum chassis — and its guts — are backward- and forward-compatible with the original Laptop 13. The touchscreen has a matte finish that seems incredibly impressive. LPCAMM2 memory means users can upgrade RAM later. The Laptop 13 Pro retains swappable expansion cards, which make changing the ports on the machine trivial. Keeping up with everything you can change about the laptop is super simple, thanks to Framework’s website.

laptop 13 Pro

Somewhere, Jony Ive is breathing heavily into a paper bag.

It seems like Framework has really taken what was groundbreaking about its original machine and made it even better. That’s impressive for such a small and young company, but in the video announcing the Laptop 13 Pro, Nirav Patel said something really interesting:

How do we build a MacBook Pro for Linux users?

I’m sure a bunch of Mac users would answer that question by laughing at Patel, but I think the question is fascinating.

The 13 Laptop Pro resembles Mac hardware thanks to its dark aluminum enclosure, which seems like a huge improvement over the older systems. Many reviews of previous Framework hardware have complained about issues like flexing top cases and weird seams between parts. Those things were assumed to be an unavoidable side effect of making a notebook that can be taken apart and rebuilt in a matter of minutes. It seems the company has addressed some of those issues with this new model.

On the other hand, Framework’s customizable, upgradable hardware stands in stark contrast to modern Apple hardware, which is increasingly consolidated onto single, dense logic boards. The MacBook Neo may be more repairable than previous machines, but even it falls short if Framework’s philosophy is the goal.

The second part of Patel’s question is more interesting than the first. Building a notebook for Linux users has historically been a tricky thing for a few reasons. Framework is already seeing success here, but clearly it wants to continue to grow its brand in the Linux world.

The first is hardware support. While it is better than it used to be, Linux users can run into weird driver issues and other complications, especially with notebooks. Framework has worked with Ubuntu and Fedora directly to support those distros, with many other options supported by the community. Combined with the ability to upgrade hardware over time and the Laptop 13 Pro’s impressive battery life, having a good Linux experience on a notebook should be easier than ever.

Microsoft has crammed advertisements and AI features into every nook and cranny of Windows 11, leaving power users frustrated. Changes may be on the horizon, but Microsoft has a long way to go to repair those relationships.

In the meantime, Framework is positioning itself as an alternative to how things are normally done in the notebook world. I think that’s worth being excited about, if it’s your cup of tea or not.

A Presidential Proclamation Marking Tim Cook’s Retirement ⇢

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A very official and normal statement from the President:

I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs, but if Steve was not taken from the Planet Earth so young, and ran the company instead of Tim, the company would have done well, but nowhere near as well as it has under Tim. For me it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well. The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to “kiss my ass.” Anyway, he explained his problem, a tough one it was, I felt he was right and got it taken care of, quickly and effectively. That was the beginning of a long and very nice relationship. During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could. Years latter, after 3 or 4 BIG HELPS, I started to say to people, anyone who would listen, that this guy is an amazing manager and leader. He makes these calls to me, I help him out (but not always, because he will, on occasion, be too aggressive in his ask!), and he gets the job done, QUICKLY, without a dime being given to those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants around town who sometimes get it done, and sometimes don’t. Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Yes, that quote is exactly as it was written. I don’t think anyone has an obligation to clean up Trump’s bonkers writing.

Cook Out

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CEO Daddies

Tim Cook, writing on apple.com:

For the past 15 years I’ve started just about every morning the same way. I open my email and I read notes I received the day before from Apple’s users all over the world.

You share little pieces of your lives with me and tell me things you want me to know about how Apple has touched you. About the moment your mom was saved by her Apple Watch. About the perfect selfie you captured at the summit of a mountain that seemed impossible to climb. You thank me for the ways Mac has changed what you can do at work and sometimes give me a hard time because something you care about isn’t working like it should.

In every one of those emails I feel the beating heart of our shared humanity. I feel a sense of deepening obligation to work harder and push further. But most of all, I feel a gratitude that I cannot put into words, that I somehow got to be the person on the other end of those emails, the leader of a company that ignites imaginations and enriches lives in such profound ways it defies description. What an honor and a privilege it has been.

He continues:

Today we announced that I’m taking the next step in my journey at Apple. Over the coming months I will be transitioning into a new role, leaving the CEO job behind in September and becoming Apple’s executive chairman. A new person will be stepping into what I know in my heart is the best job in the world. That leader is John Ternus, a brilliant engineer and thinker who has spent the past 25 years building the Apple products our users love so much, obsessed with every detail, focused on every possible way we can make something better, bolder, more beautiful, and more meaningful. He is the perfect person for the job.

John cares so much about who we are at Apple, what we do at Apple, who we reach at Apple, and he has the heart and character to lead with extraordinary integrity. I am so proud to call him Apple’s next CEO. This company will reach such incredible heights under his leadership, and you will feel his impact in every bit of delight and discovery that grows out of the products and services to come. I can’t wait for you to get to know him like I do.

This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim. A person who grew up in a rural place in a different time and, for these magical moments, got to be the CEO of the greatest company in the world. Thank you for the confidence and kindness you’ve shown me. Thank you for saying hi to me on the street and in our stores. Thank you for cheering alongside me when we unveiled a new product or service. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me to lead the company that has always put you at the center of our work. Every day we get up and think about what we can do to make your life a little bit better. And every day, you’ve made mine the best I could have asked for.

Thank you.

Part of this transition is Cook’s continued handling governments, both here and abroad. Apple Newsroom:

Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition. As executive chairman, Cook will assist with certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world.

Later in the press release:

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” said Ternus. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another. I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come, and I am so happy to know that the most talented people on earth are here at Apple, determined to be part of something bigger than any one of us. I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.”

Arthur Levinson, who has been Apple’s non-executive chairman for the past 15 years, will become its lead independent director on September 1, 2026. Ternus will join the board of directors, also effective September 1, 2026.

Additionally, Johny Srouji has been promoted to Chief Hardware Officer, a title that seems hand-crafted for him:

Apple today announced that, effective immediately, Apple executive Johny Srouji will become chief hardware officer. Srouji, who most recently served as senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, will assume an expanded role leading Hardware Engineering, which John Ternus most recently oversaw, as well as the hardware technologies organization.

“Johny is one of the most talented people I have ever had the privilege to work with,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “He has played a singular role in driving Apple’s silicon strategy, and his influence has been felt deeply not just inside the company, but across the industry. He has always led his organization with remarkable deftness and judgment, and time and again, his team has delivered breakthrough innovations that have transformed our products. We are incredibly fortunate to have him as Apple’s chief hardware officer.”

“Johny has been an incredible partner on the executive team, and is going to be an extraordinary chief hardware officer,” said incoming Apple CEO John Ternus. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with him in our new roles.”

Surely this was an effort to keep Srouji at the company. Hopefully it goes better then last time around.

The Future of the Artemis Program ⇢

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Eric Berger:

The Artemis era well and truly began Friday evening when a shiny spacecraft that had traveled 700,000 miles around the Moon, carrying four astronauts, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

For NASA, for its international partners, and for all of humanity the successful conclusion of the Artemis II mission marked a return to deep space by our species after more than half a century.

It was a spectacular achievement, and NASA deserves credit for making something what is very difficult look relatively easy. But it also raises an important question: What comes next?

iPhones in Spaaaaaaaace

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Tim Cook on X (gross), about iPhones being used on the Artemis II mission:

Congratulations to Artemis II on a successful mission! You captured the wonders of space and our planet beautifully, taking iPhone photography to new heights, and we’re grateful you shared it with the world. Your work continues to inspire us all to think different. Welcome home!

Joz chimed in on X (gross) as well:

Welcome home to the Artemis II crew! Honored that NASA astronauts brought iPhone to space with them. One small step for iPhone. One giant leap for space selfies.

Kalley Huang at The New York Times:

The iPhone 17 Pro Maxes being used by the astronauts aren’t the only cameras on the Orion capsule, though they may be the newest since their debut in September. The crew is also taking photos and videos with two Nikon D5s, a model that was introduced in 2016, and four GoPro Hero 11s, which was introduced in 2022.

The process for approving hardware for spaceflight is “usually pretty involved and lengthy,” said Tobias Niederwieser, an assistant research professor at BioServe Space Technologies, a research institute at the University of Colorado, Boulder, that had a payload on the Artemis I mission.

Typically, the process has four phases, Mr. Niederwieser said. The first introduces the piece of hardware to a safety panel. The second identifies the potential hazards of the hardware, which ranges from moving parts to materials like glass that could shatter. The third lays out a plan for addressing such hazards. The fourth proves that the plan works.

Apple was not involved in NASA’s approval process, despite people online claiming it’s the most brilliant product placement the world …errr, moon… has ever seen.

The Artemis II Crew is Home ⇢

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Stephen Clark at Ars:

Slamming into the atmosphere at more than 30 times the speed of sound, NASA’s Orion spacecraft blazed a trail over the Pacific Ocean on Friday, returning home with four astronauts and safely capping humanity’s first voyage to the Moon in nearly 54 years.

Temperatures outside the capsule built up to some 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit as a sheath of plasma enveloped the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, and its four long-distance travelers, temporarily blocking radio signals the Moon ship and Mission Control in Houston. Flying southwest to northeast, the spacecraft steered toward a splashdown zone southwest of San Diego, where a US Navy recovery ship held position to await the crew’s homecoming. Ground teams regained communications with Orion commander Reid Wiseman after a six-minute blackout.

Airborne tracking planes beamed live video of Orion’s descent back to Mission Control, showing the capsule jettison its parachute cover and deploy a series of chutes to stabilize its plunge toward the Pacific. Then, three larger main chutes, each with an area of 10,500 square feet, opened to slow Orion for splashdown at 8:07 pm EDT Friday (00:07 UTC Saturday).

What an image:

Artemis II under parachutes

It will take a while before all the data is sorted through, but by all accounts at this point, Artemis II was a near–perfect mission. It’s good to have good news in 2026.

Bruce the Yak was Final Cut Pro’s Dogcow

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I like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the weirdest corners of Apple history, but Cody Bromley’s recent blog post on a Final Cut Pro taught me I still have plenty to learn:

On the Macintosh episode of Version History, David Pierce and Nilay Patel had a lot of fun riffing about Mr. Macintosh, Steve Jobs’s obscure concept for a digital cryptid who lives in your computer.

About 15 years later, Apple actually shipped something very similar, except instead of a mysterious little man it was a yak named Bruce.

If you left older versions of Final Cut Pro running for 12 hours or more, you might come back to a small brown creature grazing a patch of grass on your timeline. There were other ways to intentionally trigger him, but this was the most fun one.

I mean, just look at this:

Bruce the Yak

It looks like Bruce was part of the very earliest versions of Final Cut Pro, as reported in 1999:

An Easter Egg in Final Cut Pro, fondly known as “Bruce the Wonder Yak” is popping up on monitors everywhere. Over the last day or two Bruce has spooked more than one unsuspecting FCP editor, fearing the mild mannered bovine was the result of some sort of computer virus. But fear not, Yak herder and Final Cut Pro Chief Engineer, Randy Ubillos assures us “not to worry,” and that Bruce is just an “undocumented feature” of the software.

However, sources in Cupertino have informed us that one problem concerning Bruce is the fact that people are addressing him as a “Cow.” An Apple spokesperson was quoted as saying, “A little sensitivity people! Save those kinds of remarks for more deserving parties like John Dvorak.”

If you want to see Bruce the Wonder Yak for yourself, go to “About Final Cut Pro” in the Apple Menu, let the splash screen scroll through the credits a few times, and in after a moment or two he’ll come out to graze on your desktop. Let him stay a while and he might even impart a few pearls of wisdom!

Like many fun things, Bruce was murdered put to rest when Steve Jobs came back to Apple and squashed all Easter Eggs.

In addition to writing about the history of Bruce, Bromley has brought Bruce back to life:

Yesterday, I wrote about Bruce the Wonder Yak, a funny little creature who lived inside Final Cut Pro. The responses kind of blew me away. Quite a few people remember Bruce, and they miss him like I did.

So I brought him back. And, no, this is not an April Fools joke.

Call the Yak can be downloaded on Github. I am in love.

xAI Says Memphis Water Plant Still Happening ⇢

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xAI, on X:

xAI is committed to building a state-of-the-art water recycling plant in Memphis. This plant will protect billions of gallons of water each year.

The team is currently prioritizing other more immediate projects at the site but our plans to build the water plant have not changed.

I certainly hope so.

Folks in Memphis responded strongly to yesterday’s news that the water treatment plant was on hold. xAI has very little credibility in the eyes of a lot of Memphians. The company not explaining what “other more immediate projects” have taken priority hasn’t helped.

xAI’s Memphis Water Treatment Plant ‘on an Indefinite Pause’ ⇢

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Part of xAI’s deal with the city of Memphis included an $80 million greywater facility designed to reduce the amount of water the company needs for cooling its data centers. The Mid-South sits atop the Memphis Sand Aquifer that provides us with some of the very best water in the country. It is our best natural resource by far, and one that many people have worked hard to protect.

Ground was broken on the plant in October, but as of today, work has stopped. Samuel Hardiman at The Daily Memphian broke the news:

Work on xAI’s planned, promised and under-construction water-recycling facility has been paused, the project’s engineer told The Daily Memphian on Wednesday, April 8.

“We are on an indefinite pause while we review the best way to execute this project, the most efficient way to execute this project,” Mark Carroll, Colossus Water Recycling engineer, said in an interview Wednesday.

Carroll said the company decided to pause construction a week ago and told project stakeholders about it Wedneday. A company spokesperson had previously said The Daily Memphian’s reporting [that the project had been paused] was “false” but declined to say why.

Hardiman goes on:

“XAI has invested substantially in this, this project. I mean, you’ve driven by the site, you’ve seen that this was not blowing smoke up anyone’s skirt,” Carroll said. “We have been going at this project full bore. So this is not something where xAI promised something and didn’t intend to carry through.”

He went on to say that he doesn’t actually know what the company’s plans are for the site. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said that the city would “use every lever we have to make sure this project moves forward.”

‘Ultra’ ⇢

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Tim Hardwick:

Apple’s first foldable iPhone may not carry the speculative media-derived “Fold” branding after all, according to Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station.

In a new post on Weibo, the oft-accurate leaker claimed that Apple’s book-style foldable could launch as the “iPhone Ultra.” Meanwhile, domestic Chinese manufacturers are allegedly deciding whether to follow Apple’s lead by tentatively branding their own upcoming foldables as “Ultra” models, but likely with a lighter price tag – Apple’s version is expected to cost between $2,000 and $2,500.

Names are always tough to nail down, but I’m feeling good about my prediction from September.