Framework Pros and Cons
Last month, Framework announced their latest additions to their lineup. The most significant was a “Pro” version of the Framework 13, very explicitly modeled on, and compared to, the MacBook Pro, with a fully machined and more rigid aluminium chassis, improved haptic touchpad, and most significantly to my mind, increased battery capacity. Also improved speakers and a touchscreen display - but I don’t care much about either of those.
The increase in battery life is the most significant for me because that has always seemed like an area where the 13 fell short of other laptops. The increase in battery life is partly due to a new mainboard with efficient Intel Core Ultra processors and the use of LPCAMM2 memory, and partly due simply to an increase in the battery capacity to 74Wh. Unfortunately this latter change comes at a cost: the new battery is only compatible with the redesigned Pro chassis which was made fuller at the front to accommodate it.
This presents something of a dilemma for me when considering my upgrade options. I have an original 55Wh battery and would see a big boost in battery life by upgrading to a 74Wh one even without a more efficient processor or RAM, but that upgrade now involves replacing the bottom chassis, input cover, and speakers as well as the battery. That doesn’t seem worth it when my current battery and chassis are perfectly fine, but it is nonetheless tempting. Will it seem worth it when my current battery is degraded and the only option for my current chassis is 60Wh? When it comes time to upgrade my mainboard (something I hadn’t planned on for several years yet), am I going to want to put the new mainboard in a chassis that is stuck with a lower capacity battery, where I won’t see the full possibilities of improved chip efficiencies?
It’s good in many ways that they are iterating on their designs and addressing flaws in them. They maintained backwards compatibility for the new mainboards, per their promises. However as I discussed in a previous post, they are still a tech startup operating under capitalism, and their incentives within that system are in conflict with their stated values. They have to sell new laptops, and upgrades to people who have already bought laptops from them. The idea of piecemeal upgrades to a laptop, a laptop of Theseus as many describe it, is interesting, but with this new model I feel like I am being subtly pushed to buy more upgrades than I need, or eventually just resorting to buying a whole new laptop.
I would be curious to know if their whole model is resulting in less hardware being produced overall or if it actually results in some components (mainboards) being produced in larger quantities as some people jump on every new upgrade, while others (chassis) have been replaced less frequently, but only because up until now there was no upgrade path for them. I frequently see people on the Framework subreddit talking about having gone through several mainboard upgrades and other upgrades on machines that are only a few years old. What is the net benefit overall? We need some sort of environmental impact metric for Framework purchasers vs purchasers of laptops from other manufacturers.
For my own part, I think I will resist the upgrade temptation for now.