Switzerland-based MetaComputing has announced what appears to be the first laptop built around the CIX P1 processor, using the modular Framework Laptop 13 chassis. The device pairs a 12-core Arm SoC with up to 45 TOPS of AI processing power, offering an alternative to the x86 and Apple Silicon options currently dominating the laptop market.
The CIX P1 (CP8180) processor combines four Cortex-A720 performance cores at 2.6 GHz, four medium-clocked A720 cores, and four efficiency-focused Cortex-A520 cores, all built on TSMC's 6nm process. The chip includes an Arm Immortalis G720 MC10 GPU with hardware ray tracing support and a 28.8 TOPS NPU that handles INT4, INT8, INT16, and various floating-point workloads. The Pro model features a 13.5-inch display at 2256x1504 resolution, 16GB or 32GB RAM, 1TB NVMe storage, Intel Wi-Fi 6E, and a 55Wh battery, all packed into a chassis measuring 29.7 x 22.9 x 1.6 cm (11.7 x 9.0 x 0.6 inches) and weighing 1.3 kg (2.9 lbs). A Standard variant ships as a mini PC in a co-branded Framework and Cooler Master case.
The system ships with Ubuntu 25.04 preinstalled, promising an environment optimized for Arm and AI development workloads. However, there are legitimate concerns about battery life. Testing of other CIX P1 devices, including the MINISFORUM MS-R1, has revealed idle power consumption of 16 to 17 watts, which could severely limit the laptop's runtime despite its 28W TDP rating. MetaComputing shares a founder with DeepComputing, the company behind the RISC-V Framework mainboard, though the two operate as separate entities.
Pricing starts at $550 (€505) for the Standard mini PC with 16GB RAM and climbs to $1,100 (€1,010) for the Pro laptop with 32GB. Whether the hardware is production-ready or still in development remains unclear, as MetaComputing has not demonstrated working units publicly.
