“Reviews of the original Framework Laptop 13 were a little skeptical; my colleague Monica repeatedly pointed out that an upgradable laptop’s value “hinges on future support.” But in 2022, her headline was “promises kept.” And this year, as Framework shipped its third set of CPU upgrades for the Framework 13 while simultaneously improving battery life, she called the 2023 revisions “a DIY dream come true.””
Framework seems to be a pretty awesome company. So happy to see them delivering on their word.
This seems really cool. I’m not in the market for a laptop right now but I’ll be looking at this when I am.
I wish they had more options for discrete GPUs at this stage, but it sounds like there should be more on the way
Their track record so far has been short, but great. I’d be shocked if upgrades don’t become available until Q2 2024.
I’m actually upset that there is a laptop with this much modularity and there are no god damn physical mouse buttons in sight. Good lord. Fake buttons suck.
Look at this guy here, trying to do actual work with a trackpad. Just use it to click the next YouTube video like everyone else does during work hours.
I haven’t researched laptop prices in ages so I’m not sure what things go for these days. They mention in the article that this laptop will be expensive, but I didn’t get a feel for how expensive. What’s the premium for a laptop like this when comparing roughly apples to apples?
I love the idea of this, like most tech people will, but I also think the premium is going to kill them. At some point all the connectors and covers and the logistics are going to be tough to justify versus just a regular machine. Most people don’t upgrade their desktops, which are infinitely and easily upgradable, so doing so on a mobile device is going to be a tough sell (since there always be a price premium). It’s a noble idea that on the surface sounds awesome, but I think these guys will have a hard time. For example, it’s silly to have to “upgrade” your laptop with a couple of extra ports when for literally just pennies, the OEM laptop maker could just add them to all their laptops. Mass production is incredible at driving costs down.
I wish them luck, but I think beyond a base of hardcore nerds, average users will never understand this product.
Framork’s prices are totally reasonable and competitive today. And then if you factor in the savings of not replacing perfectly good parts just because you want to upgrade the processor or replace the battery, you end up saving a lot of money.
Right to repair, minimizing e-waste, and servicability are not exclusive traits of “hardcore nerds”.