this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2023
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Framework

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Discussion around the Framework mission of building products that last longer by making them upgradeable, customizable, and repairable. Consumer electronics can be better for you and for the environment.

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Hi, With my batch 7 prep mail out, it’s getting in my mind again. And I’m still debating between the 14” m3 pro 18 512 model and the Framework 13 R7 with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of ram. Can’t decide because they both have pros and cons. The framework will cost 1429+~170=€1600 for ssd and ram and the Mac with student discount will cost me €2000. And with the better battery life and screen etc. I’m still debating with myself and can’t choose :( So my question is how do decide because I can’t find a definitive choice for myself. Thanks already for the answers

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

In my opinion, unless you require a feature you can only get on a mac, such as macOS, multi-day battery life, or a powerful GPU (and you can't afford the FW16 instead), you should get the Framework Laptop.

You have not mentioned a specific use case in your post, and I am still curious what that is. But since you have not, for the time being I will assume both laptops would work, at least at a basic level, for you. With that, here are the benefits of each laptop I think are worth considering, and why the Framework Laptop 13 or Laptop 16 would be a better option.

The Macbook Pro will likely have a more powerful GPU than at least the FW13. It will have a higher resolution screen, and a higher refresh rate one at that. The Macbook Pro will have a longer battery life and better speakers, although both of those can be solved for less than the price increase from the FW13 (with a power bank and headphones). You may prefer the trackpad on the Macbook Pro, however this is really up to personal preference (I for one quite dislike the Macbook's vibration trackpad), and many users of the FW13 have said the trackpad on that is quite good in its own right. Lastly, you may prefer macOS over Windows 11 or a Linux distribution, but since you are considering both laptops from the outset, I will ignore this point here.

The Framework Laptop 13 has numerous benefits over the Macbook Pro in my opinion. First and more obviously, the repairability, upgradeability, customization, and sustainability are all unparelleled compared to the Macbook Pro. The FW13 has had 4 different generations of motherboards from different CPU motherboards, and with how well they've designed and expanded their product range in just 3 years, there's no reason to think future generations of even faster processors won't be released in the future. With just this point, the price-to-performance of the FW13 in the long term makes more sense than just the immediate purchase. Another very important point is that if your workload benefits from them, the doubling of RAM and storage will allow you to better run your tasks, or save ~$80 if you decide to better match the Macbook Pro and FW13 specs. Additionally, being able to upgrade these components in the future, as well as swap ports for your use case, make this a far more flexible laptop, not just during purchase, but for the many years of use this laptop will receive.

But there are more benefits than just the performance and pricing. Unless you wish to pay hundreds of more dollars for AppleCare, the Framework Laptop is also a far safer investment if there is any likelihood of the screen, casing, or keyboard/trackpad breaking during your normal operation. You likely already know about Apple's famously anti-consumer repair policies, but since it seems like you are buying the DIY edition of the FW13, I'll summarize it as the fact that repairs are no more than 10% the price of the product, rather than 50% to 90%.

There are several benefits you gain by purchasing a Framework Laptop 16 instead of Laptop 13, if you are willing to wait for your batch to ship and for paying an equivalent price to the Macbook Pro. For starters, the graphics card performance will be more comparable between the two laptops, although in-depth testing will be needed for more accurate information. Even without a GPU, the FW16 has a greatly improved screen (better color accuracy, 165Hz refresh rate, higher resolution) over the FW13. The battery is also about 30% greater in capacity than even the upgraded battery in the Ryzen 7 FW13 model. Additionally, if you don't require a powerful GPU, you still gain the same advantage as the FW13 with being able to upgrade both the processor and now graphics in the future, when models even faster than that of the Macbook Pro are released.

In summary, I would strongly suggest purchasing a Framework Laptop 13 if its unprecedented repairability and upgradeability are of interest to you. I would also strongly suggest considering a Framework laptop 16 if you require more powerful or even more flexible hardware. Unless you absolutely need Macbook-specific features like macOS or your software only runs on macOS, there is little reason to purchase a Macbook Pro over either model of laptop from Framework. I hope this is helpful for your purchasing decision. I would be very interested of hearing your experiences here after you make your purchase!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Thanks. My use case as an econ student is mostly just college stuff like excel and word that sort of stuff. Dont want to take charger with me to class but the AMD one will probably survive a workday. Furthermore things like content consumption such as watching movies and youtube etc. Thats why the screen of the macbook is tempting (never seen a framework screen IRL tho). And then also would like some "Light" gaming like Football Manager, Baldur's gate etc. And some emulation of nintendo consoles. Also would like some small video and photo editing, but just for fun not for business or something.