Comment by Grisu_FTP
6 days ago
While i think the usecase of a Macbook and a Framework are really different i will always be thankfull to framework for how easy they make it.
Broke my keyboard, a few days later i had a new one that didnt even take a minute to swap. Wanted to upgrade my GPU twice, didnt even take 10 minutes. Biggest difficulty was swapping the motherboard, but even that was easy.
The ports i need change all the time, and i can just swap them all the time :D
While a framework might be a bit expensive, overpriced even, i think the repairability and upgradeability is worth it for me
I'd be curious to see hardware failure rates of Framework vs MacBooks.
Sure you can replace the keyboard on a Framework fairly easily but I'd bet MacBook users run into the need for it less (comparing modern models; we all know the butterfly keyboard era was a dark age for MacBooks)
It seems to be definitly higher but their support always just send a replacement with no issues to me.
My first GPU had an issue where the fans had a really annoying whirring sound and it got replaced.
I had a (pre-)release motherboard (one of the last FW16 pre-order batches) which had an issue with uneven heat on the CPU, also got replaced.
In both cases i could just use the Laptop like normal until the new parts arrived so i had no "downtime"
Consumer reports seems to agree. Although I'll take mostly reliable and repairable over very reliable and not repairable. Stuff happens after all.
> a few days later i had a new one
This really sums up the reason I stuck with MacBook hardware even during the dark days of the end of the Intel era: I can have a new MacBook in basically any moderately developed city in the world inside an hour, and in fact did so twice when something catastrophic happened on work trips. Waiting a few days to fix something or get some custom-order-only laptop would not have been an option.
Well even if my Framework would explode it wouldnt be THAT big of a deal to me, i would just move over to my ps5 or steamdeck for the time and since i dont really go outside i would have to wait for the shipment anyway. Only scenario where it would be troubling is if it happened during the rare weeks where i am not home due to being a bit away in school but even then i dont think i would just buy an entirely new laptop and instead just write on paper for the 3-4 remaining days.
So for me fixing a keyboard i spilled cola on fast, cheap and without sending the device away is far far far more important than replacing an entire laptop when it disintegrates into dust.
This indicates effectively trivial use instead of seeing a laptop as a business tool.
"Write on paper" when you're on a consulting site for a client is not an option - much less when you bill by the hour.
I've actually had the situation where someone spilled a drink in my Mac and I was due to give a conference talk three hours later - that was actually recoverable because I could buy a new laptop with approximately the same configuration immediately, and didn't ruin the week.
That level of service is far from universal - Apple don't do onsite repairs at all in the UK, let alone inside 1 hour. It's all random third parties with crappy return-it-to-the-shop as a fallback.
I'm not even talking about onsite repairs, just about getting a new laptop to use.
I have indeed had my laptop repaired very quickly in the UK though (I still order them with British keyboards as 30 years of muscle memory does not go away). The Apple Store in Bath just took care of it.
A Framework running a sane version of macOS would be peak computing for me.
Not that repairability isn’t great, but in 16 years of Apple devices my only needed repair was their atrocious butterfly-style keyboard, and Apple footed the bill thanks to the Class Action Lawsuit.
We merely have to wait on Apple to continue debasing its OS, and then many other options will look preferable. Or perhaps Linux on Apple Silicon will eventually become stable.
Linux on Apple Silicon is already stable and nice if you accept a few downsides: only M1 & M2 so far, max 8h on battery ('office usage'), max 30h with closed lid ('sleep'), external display via hdmi and no touch ID.
It’s _really_ not just a few downsides, although they’re catching up quickly. My Air would get USB-C video out soon, it seems. But I don’t think Asahi should be anyone’s main driver yet. (That reminds me that it’s time to donate again.)
That is sort of what we got when people were making Hackintoshes out of Thinkpads a few years ago. Great keyboards, great repairablity and upgradeability, etc.