I have bought and returned 2 framework laptops. They are repairable but they are also questionable build quality.
The screen on the Framework 12 is very subpar and the size and weight throw it out of being a light laptop.
Despite saying how good Linux support was running NixOS on the replacement Framwork 13 was not great either. Wireless drops and countless reports of drops on their forums with zero responses or workarounds. Most people buy replacement wireless adapters cause the one Framework ships just doesn’t work.
On top of that the laptop just feel cheap with a steep price. I have hope for the new Pro, but we’ll have to see if it’s any good because so far I am pretty dissapointed with Framework.
motherfuckers acting like those laptops aren’t five hundred bajillion dollars
Exactly, my last laptop was around €750 but I remember looking for a similar (in terms of performance) Framework laptop and it was around €1200 if I remember correctly, not an insignificant difference for a student.
If I were god king of (USA/Europe/Asia…the Universe), I would subsidize repairable laptops. It would save resources in the long run, for both humanity and the planet.
Who would have thought a more expensive, more premium product would have a hard time finding customers during a time when people are struggling to pay bills and cant even afford the non-existent dollar menu at mcdonalds anymore.
I would love to have a Framework laptop. Those things are awesome as hell.
Unfortunately, my very old laptop that I’ve torn down and repaired over a dozen times is still kicking. And spending $100 to fix it is cheaper than spending a gazillion dollars on a new Framework.
They value a laptop that excels at providing value for money, a compact design, battery life, and brand familiarity.
Value for money on what timescale? Most seem to only think about the price vs the functionality a few days after purchase. Longer term, the ability to upgrade and repair components instead of pitching the whole thing would be higher value for money, but that’s not how most consumers think.
A compact design is nice, but not the be-all-end-all if Framework can get in a reasonable size/weight range.
Battery life is an oxymoron here… the main issue I have with laptop battery life is after a few years of use it dwindles, eventually to zero. When the battery isn’t replaceable, or is a proprietary form factor which costs nearly as much as a new laptop - that results in horrible battery life and value for money performance, but does generate new unit sales for non-repairable laptops.
Framework uses batteries that die after a few years (mine turned into a spicy pillow after 25 months). My M1 MacBook Air from 2020 still has 88% battery health according to the OS.
My Framework lasts about 5-7 hours on battery. My MacBook lasts about 15 hours on battery.
Replacing the battery on my Framework cost me about $80. Having Apple replace the battery in my MacBook would cost $160.
Let’s say my MacBook’s battery is about to go bad (it’s not). Battery replacement every 6 years, vs battery replacement every 2-3 years (let’s be generous and say 3 years) with Framework. That means after 6 years, both laptops will just be getting a new battery, and you will have spent $160 on new batteries for each one. Sounds like there’s no benefit to Framework battery-wise.
My MacBookPro from 2006 (and those of several colleagues) turned their batteries into spicy pillows in under a year. Glad to hear that the “you’re holding it wrong” 5 bars signal strength everywhere you go phone company also has great (self reported) battery health, these days.
There’s the raw cost of the batteries, then there’s the hassle and downtime. If you just love hanging out at the genius bar then having your MacBook serviced is a positive experience for you - enjoy. I’d rather just grab a spare off the shelf and slap it in when I’ve finally had enough of my existing battery being anemic.
I seem to have notebooks thrown at me for free every so often, so often that I haven’t bought one for myself in 20+ years, so what Framework does or doesn’t do is a bit academic for me, but… if Framework makes their batteries generic enough that anybody (competent) with a 3D printer and a soldering iron could make them, you would think that would keep the batteries cheap and readily available.
I have a 1st gen framework 13 and the battery is still at 85% health.
Unfortunately Linux (and Windows) power management kinda sucks in comparison to Apple products so the battery life (especially sleep) is pretty bad in comparison.
I really bought one to support the cause of repairable and upgradable hardware even though there is a cost to that.
The touchpad on my late 2015 15" MBP stopped clicking because of a pillow that eventually bent the whole top chassis.
Any battery will pillow up if you run it hot and overcharged 24/7.
Lmk when they’re corebooted.
Otherwise I’ll stick with system76 or starlabs.
Just wondering, what does coreboot do that the oss bios framework uses doesnt do?
As far as I know framework only has open source embedded controller hardware NOT EUFI.
Either way there isn’t a way to neutralize/disable Intel ME on those machines.
I want one but I just got a refurbished thinkpad for like $350 and I’m trying to be a little more financially responsible than I was in the past. That being said I recently spent $2k on a 3D printer so maybe I’m not doing that well with the financial responsibility. I would love to get their 13 pro whenever it’s in my budget.
so it doesnt work
I would be willing to buy one if they sold them in my country
I don’t buy notebooks. Only used older Thinkpads, particularly for coreboot/libreboot support.
The article is clanker slop. It’s mostly reiterative, a clear sign of clanker slop. Clankers are reiterative in their slop. A lot of clanker slop is reiterative.
That’s an excellent point, and you’re right to push back on this. Let me make an honest evaluation of the situation.
Not all reiterative spamlike garbage is clanker slop. Some of it is deliberately written to prioritize SEO over respecting the reader or producing anything of quality. Either way thanks for giving me the heads-up not to give them any of my time.
AKA some of it is meatslop
I’d say we had more meatslop two years ago than we have clankerslop today, though the clankers are gaining share…
That’s where the clankers learned it.
Overpriced.
I haven’t needed to buy a laptop since the company existed. If I did they’d be a strong contender
I have but I didn’t consider them because retailers don’t carry them and I’m not buying a laptop I’ve never tried typing on to make sure the keyboard isn’t ass.
I own a 13" AMD version, the keyboard is very good.
I’ve heard all sorts of bad advice on various keyboards/hardware from other people. I don’t trust anyone’s judgement but my own when it comes to that.
TLDR: Fuck “AI”
I was in the market for a 14’’ work laptop and I so DESPERATELY wanted to buy a Framework but I couldn’t thanks to a combination of all the AI bullshit driving up memory prices, Framework still being on the Series 1 Intel Ultra chips, and their global availability not quite being there (this bit is understandable for a relatively new company). I ended up buying a base 14’’ MacBook Pro M5 even though I wanted to stay on Linux simply because it was the only thing with good perf, crazy good battery, and good build quality that was priced semi-reasonably even though it’s on the opposite end of the repairability spectrum.
Even now a comparable Framework (Intel Ultra X7 358H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) costs ~$150 more than what I paid for my Mac, assuming I can even get it shipped to where I am, and the regional pricing/taxes doesn’t push the price higher. Kinda crazy because it’s on the more reasonable side of things if memory serves. Dell XPS costs even more.
I hope this memory crisis gets sorted because I never thought I’d see the day that Apple became the budget option. Maybe I’ll sell my Mac and get a Framework then because as much as I love using the Mac, I still hate being at Apple’s mercy if anything breaks or if I need an upgrade.
I hope this memory crisis gets sorted
https://dam.stanford.edu/memory-prices.html
Looks like pretty normal market fluctuation. Not a crisis.
Yeah market fluctuation regularly explains prices more than quintupling while supply vaporizes overnight. The fuck are you smoking?
Logarithmic scales are notorious for hiding spikes.
In late December of 2023 when there was a glut of RAM on the market, I purchased 24 64G ECC DDR5 sticks for $188 each. I split them between two production servers I was building for a cluster. In early 2025 I was setting a third and they had rose to $318 each.
I checked last night and found the price for new was $2,700 a stick.How is this a fluctuation?
Quite normal, yes. Especially the prices for DDR4 and DDR5, the most commonly used RAM types in consumer laptops/desktops
Methodology note. $/GB is the cheapest listed retail price in nominal USD — not contract, average, inflation-adjusted, or a confirmed sale price.
It’s likely worse than the graph shows because this isn’t average sale price.
I can’t think of a single system I’ve built where I even considered the cheapest RAM options.
I don’t know how old “abc” is, but it’s particularly painful for those of us who remember $100 going from getting us a 32Kb RAM pack, to 1Mb, to 64Mb, to 256Mb, to 1Gb, to 16Gb, and then just fucking stop for ten years, and now going back to no longer being able to even get us 16Gb any more. It’s like stuff stopped getting better a decade ago, and everything is being made worse by the greed of rich arseholes
