Framework Laptop 13 Pro Features New 1TB Gen 5 SSD Priced Lower Than Previous 500GB Option

Framework has announced a significant price reduction on its PCIe Gen 5 SSD options for the Framework Laptop 13 Pro. The company has qualified a new drive from ADATA, the XPG MARS 970, which offers improved performance, efficiency, and reliability at a lower cost than the previously offered SSD. This price adjustment is so substantial that the new 1TB version will be sold for less than the previous 500GB configuration.

Framework's head honcho, Nirav Patel, stated in a company blog post that this change was made possible by successfully sourcing the new ADATA drive. "We were able to qualify and source a new SSD from our partner ADATA, the XPG MARS 970, that offers better performance, efficiency, and long term reliability, and comes in at substantially lower cost than the SSD option we had previously qualified," Patel explained.

The benefits of this price drop extend to customers who have already placed pre-orders for the Framework Laptop 13 Pro. Because pre-orders have not yet begun shipping, Framework will automatically upgrade all affected pre-orders to the new, more affordable 1TB drive at the reduced price. "Since we haven’t started shipping Framework Laptop 13 Pro pre-orders yet, we’ll be switching over all existing pre-orders that had chosen the previous Gen 5 SSD options and reduced the price on those orders as well," Patel added.

The new ADATA XPG MARS 970 SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities. The 1TB model is priced at $299, while the 2TB model costs $659. This means the 1TB drive is now cheaper than the 500GB option Framework previously offered.

While the ADATA XPG MARS 970 is not yet widely available for separate purchase through typical online retailers, making direct price comparisons challenging, Framework's move suggests that component sourcing can lead to significant cost savings. This development, while specific to Framework's component selection efforts, indicates that consumers can potentially find more competitive pricing on high-performance storage solutions by looking beyond the most obvious options.