We are not sustainable. And neither is any other device maker. This industry is full of “feel good” messaging, but generates 50 million metric tons of e-waste each year. We believe there's a better way.
We are not sustainable
And neither is any other device maker. This industry is full of "feel good" messaging, but generates 50 million metric tons of e-waste each year. We believe the best way to reduce environmental impact is to create products that last longer, meaning fewer new ones need to be made. Instead of operating on feels, we operate on data and actions. With funding from Intel, we commissioned Fraunhofer IZM to do a detailed life cycle analysis (LCA) on Framework Laptop 13 to help us understand where we are today and where we can continue to improve. Check out our thoughts on reducing environmental impact and download the LCA report here...
They seem to be heavily prioritizing reduce and reuse over recycle which is perfect. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Buy a few refillable glass jars and recycle them when they break instead of just tossing them in the recycling and buying new ones type deal.
I needed new laptop and wanted one from Framework but unfortunately they don't sell it in my country so I went with a macbook pro with the thinking that it will last me longer than anything else and that's at least somewhat more eco friendly since I don't need to buy a new one for the next 5 years at least, probably 10 since it's a mac
I’ve had my macbook for 6 years and it is still my favorite computer to use. I built my own pc and everything, but the mac still feels better. Ot could feel a little snappier opening programs, but it’s still a great machine
I say we celebrate their successes! Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress; the fact that they're trying to do something about sustainability is far more than can be said for most laptop manufacturers, and the more the industry sees them succeed, the more it will follow suite.
I bought a 1st gen Framework, making the bet they will still be around and have sell upgrades for my laptop 5+years from now when I need an upgrade. So far they are delivering on their promises and the price remains acceptable (even if high than the competition).
very satisfied about linux support
very satisfied about reperability, customizability
very satisfied with overall spec. and design
not so satisfied by battery management and autonomy
Was looking for a new work laptop a year or so ago, and compared a thinkpad with framework. Same exact hardware inside, and the price difference was 50ct. With the thinnkpad having poorer upgradability, soldered on ram and (imo) worse build quality.
It was the perfect way to test out a framework, and now I own one for personal use as well
Hopefully battery life will get much better with the next gen Intel CPUs (14th gen and later). Of course that means nothing for people who already have the current gen.
I got my Framework 13 in February 2022 and I love it. I'll end up getting the AMD mainboard when it becomes more widely available, then take my old mainboard and RAM, put them in an enclosure, and make that my new NAS. Then my current NAS, which is just a Raspberry Pi, I'll turn that into a PiHole.
I am super excited about case options (3D printed, or coolermaster) ! When I do need an upgrade in some years time, the old MB will definitly not go to wast !
I always found it very frustration to have some old laptop laying around, that still functions good, but there is nothing much to be done with it, or it involves a lot of tinkering and will never end up being a very elegant nor practical thing...
I've used old laptops as low power servers (hell, they have included battery backup that lasts way longer than my UPSes). Being able to put an old board and its components in a 1u rack server or 3d printed case is HUGE to me. Thats a huge selling point for framework for me.
I wish they did a System76 collab or something because I want to support both of those companies.
I've always wanted a form factor that's basically a thick tablet, but with laptop-level hardware inside. I can carry around a (mechanical) keyboard and a wireless mouse just fine. Have something to prop it up vertically and give it a power adapter, and that's all I need. Even the best laptop keyboards and touchpads kinda suck.
Not many companies would take a chance on a form factor like that, but an old Framework motherboard could make it work. I think there are some 3d printed projects on their forums that are pretty close to this already.
I am not in the market for a new laptop at the moment, but my next one is very likely to be a Framework. At least if they decide to add Nordic keyboard and support shipping to Denmark.
Yeah that’s my attitude as well. I have no need for a laptop at the moment. It’s a want, but I have bigger expenses to worry about at the moment. In a year or two when I feel like it’s time I’ll likely go with them.
Last I checked some months ago they haven't entered the EU market and don't have near term plans to :(
They also don't recommend importing as that kind of defeats the purpose seeing as you'll be unable to easily source parts or even get support, maintenance or warranty
If I need a new laptop, I'll most likely get a Framework. Not only the upgradability repairability, but the upgradability is second to none.
The one complaint I have is that the Ethernet module sticks out of the device. Seems like an oversight to make them so thin so they can't fit an RJ-45 port. Maybe they'll develop a module with a little flap like seen on some thin laptops with an RJ-45 port.
I needed one and wanted one but unfortunately they don't sell it in my country so I went with a macbook pro with the thinking that it will last me longer than anything else and that's at least somewhat more eco friendly
Yea, back when I needed a laptop because my super old lenovo was on its death bed, it was when there was a chip shortage or whatever and System76 didn't have the laptop I wanted in stock and Framework didn't exist (i dont think? or it wasn't shipping anytime soon) so I went with the a m1 macair. This this is incredibly in terms of price/perf & power/perf. I get tons of battery time. It's insanely fast, doesn't get hot at all and the build quality is better than any laptop I've owned to date. I probably wont need another laptop for a couple more years at least and I've had this since 2020.
When I upgrade to something else, I'll probably hand this down to my wife or her mom tbh. So in terms of eco friendly, its going to get 6+ years of use most likely if not 10.
I find it acceptable to use a usb-c dongle for ethernet, even though I admit it's not as good as a properly integrated port. Overall the Framework 13-inch isn't the best if you are looking for many I/O options. I own only 4 port-modules, buy even if I had more I don't see myself swapping them more often than twice a year.
It's certainly acceptable and more of a nitpick. I just find it super convenient to have Ethernet built-in. Not necessarily for desktop use (you'd probably use a USB-C/Thunderbolt dock with Ethernet anyways), but for activities like troubleshooting routers or other network devices. It's very handy when you can just take your laptop and plug it right in without having to think about any dongles or adapters or whatever.
You can of course have a permanent RJ-45 port in the Framework laptop, it's just not as aesthetically pleasing and the fact that it sticks out can cause issues with some sleeves or other cases.
I purchased a 1st gen Framework in early 2022 because I strongly believe in the ethos of the company and even though I didn't really need a laptop, I wanted to support the company.
Overall I'm quite happy with the laptop, there are definitely a few things that weren't great on the 1st gen units, such as the speakers, hinges, and the battery life. Some of those I have since upgraded as they improved them in later years, and it now meets my needs pretty well.
It's true. My previous laptop was getting up there in age but it still had probably a year or two left of casual use after I replaced the battery. Thankfully my father found a use for it with one of his projects. Now I'm eyeing Framework's new Ryzen mainboards and thinking of upgrading despite just buying this laptop last year. Yeah I can use my old mainboard as a home server, but I've been doing just fine without one.
If I do decide to upgrade, I don't know how I'll justify my subsequent upgrade until things stop working.
I think they're the go-to company if you want to get a laptop in 2023. I got my unit back in 2021 and used it every day since, and it has taken quite a beating. It went though several light impacts and one big drop but the only thing to show for it is a small dent on the back.
My only two complaints are
After a year, the USB-C cable supplied with the laptop started to split open. I don't know if this is only a defect in early batches but it's worth noting.
Suspend on Linux is an issue. Linux works great but it doesn't suspend properly. Putting in this command as root echo "deep" > /sys/power/mem_sleep which makes your system use deep sleep instead of s2idle which solved the issue but waking up from suspend is now 8-10 seconds instead of 2 seconds.
I expect these hardware issues and more to be fixed on newer boards and the framework 16 but I'll continue to use my 13 and upgrade to an AMD board and use my intel board to make a mini PC. There's really no reason to buy Dell, HP, or Lenovo anymore now that framework exist and has delivered on all their promises.
That sounds annoying, but manageable. To be fair, I've never had a Linux system that did suspend gracefully, so I've started to suspect it's more a software issue with Linux in general.
I got one of the first gen models, and I have been totally sold ever since. Yeah, there are laptops with more ports, but it's harder to find a laptop with a wider variety of ports.
I love that the laptop is customizable and totally serviceable. As someone who has been dismantling and fixing their own laptops for a long time, watching the industry get more and more unfriendly has been disheartening.
Framework is a breath of fresh air. Even if they fail eventually, I will still be happy to have given them my money because this is an incredible laptop. Excited to see the 16.
This is the only reason I haven't bought one yet. I have no use/need for a new laptop, but really like the idea at the very least over... every other manufacturer really.
Being able to choose/swap out ports alone would be fantastic.
System76 is a bit strange. Their laptops are more expensive than other windows brands, while offering Linux. I'm not sure if it's really worth going with them, as a lot of other laptops ca work with Linux. Tho maybe I missed something about their laptops.
Framework I think I saw some Poole saying it has some issues running Linux with some component incompatibilities. Tho you may want to do more research, maybe even opening some reddit threads and dodging useless comments.
The system76 system at least assures you that it will work with Linux. There are some stories here and there about some laptop part not working beacuse of lack of support for Linux. Other than that i see no reason at all and likely any other laptop will work with linux as well , its just not as certain.
My experience with Linux on my Framework has been pretty good but admittedly not perfect. If you want an idea you can check out the Arch Wiki's Framework page. Personally I think the repairability and upgradability of Framework outweighs the marginal increased Linux support you get with System76 (assuming they have no issues), but Linux isn't as big a priority for Framework as it is for System76.
I recall the fairphone 2 being touted as an open platform with support for ubuntu touch, phosh and more. There's not a word of that with the current lineup.
I like the aim and ethos, but not so much the design (other than interesting modularity) and certain things rub me the wrong way. And the pricing is just very out of line.
In the end, I'll just continue to do what I have been and keep old laptops running as long as possible. Have been using old IT-recycled housings or eBay purchases of "just the right thing" and swapped parts around, rebuilt the OS, etc. That's where much of the fun is anyway, heh.
I do wish the Fairphone were easier to come by in the US, tho.
It's not really. You're just used to subsidized pricing. Framework doesn't give you a computer with bullshit anti-malware trial things or whatever other bullshit manufacturers install these days plus Microsoft bulk pricing. If you compare the a Dell Inspiron 5630 to the a similarly spec'd framework, the framework is only like $100-150 more dollars.
When i ordered mine, they didnt have a US version. So i ordered a German model, and a keyboard (the German Model was overstock and discounted). And just swapped the keyboard.
It took about 30 minutes and probably 100 screws but it was simple.
My laptop is 4 years old at this point. I spent $2400 on it before I wanted something future proof, and while it's still plenty fast with it's 10th gen Intel processor and 32gb ram, knowing that I could drop $500 and upgrade to the latest AMD or Intel chip makes me wish I could have held out another year and gotten the framework.
Given that we've more or less peaked in terms of non-gaming performance I probably won't be buying another laptop until this one dies but my next laptop will be a framework without question as well.
There will certainly be things that make both games and non-games faster. We're not at the limit of packaging density yet, and a lot of non-gaming workloads can take more advantage of multiple cores. Games tend to only take advantage of the number of cores available to them in whatever the latest generation of consoles have.
That said, laptops tend to get bounded by their ability to get rid of heat more than anything else. My Framework (an Intel 1280P) underclocks itself to 3GHz under sustained loads (from a max of 4.8GHz). Top end CPU is a bit of a waste with the amount of space it could possibly use to cool itself.
The entire laptop is user serviceable, including replacing the Motherboard/CPU with a newer model, or even switching between Intel and AMD now. New 16in model will have upgradable discrete GPU.
That's their whole deal. The computer is designed to be repairable by the end user as a first principle. It's easy to disassemble, easy to replace or swap components, and they have a store where you can buy replacement or upgrade parts.
The number one problem of modern appliance is indeed longevity I'd say. The so called "planned obsolescence" is probably what mainly drives or consumption of electronics and, accordingly, our production of e-waste.
But Framework might just be saying that for green washing purposes.
I have toyed with the thought of framework laptops a few times. But the pricing is just too high. I rather buy used company laptops ~3 years afterwards and get way cheaper high quality laptop. Plus, buying used is pretty much always better than buying new in an environmental sense.
I've never used one of their computers or even seen one in the flesh, but from what I've seen they look cool and I will consider them next time I need a new laptop. But for now I'll reduce e-waste by using my old Acer Chromebook with Linux until it kicks the bucket.