As of a couple of weeks ago I purchased a Framework 16 Laptop as my new daily driver. Was it worth the cost? Here’s my thoughts on the machine so far.

TLDR: Loving it!

The Framework 16 Laptop

The Framework 16 laptop is the newest model from Framework, boasting easy repair and upgrade capabilities, awesome customization options, and an environmentally conscious philosophy.

I ended up purchasing the DIY edition, which requires some setup upon arrival. I highly recommend this route as it is honestly a pretty straightforward process with step by step instructions from Framework (with videos too), plus it’s cheaper, and who doesn’t like to save some money? 🫰

Possibly more importantly, it helps familiarize you with your new machine, which in turn will help you with customizations, upgrades, and repairs. I’m running Linux (specifically NixOS, but that deserves a whole other article), so I can’t speak to the Windows experience on the machine.

What do I like about the Framework 16 Laptop?

There’s a lot to love, from upgradeability and repairability, to flexibility and customizability.

Upgradeability / Repairability

The framework laptop provides easy access to upgrade and repair as you need. There’s literally only 16 screws needed to access the guts of the machine (and they provide a screwdriver tool that is the only tool you’ll need). So not only is there easy access, you can easily swap out or upgrade storage or memory as you need.

Need to upgrade from 16 GB of RAM to 32 GB of RAM? Easy enough! Just add another stick of RAM or swap out your existing set. I’m rocking a single stick of 48GB of RAM, which has been amazing (as I am a tab-aholic), and I can upgrade to 96GB in the future if somehow actually run into problems with 48GBs.

This is honestly a major selling point of the framework in my opinion. If my needs increase or something explodes, I don’t just have to completely upgrade to a new machine. I’m looking at you Apple. 👀

Reuse

Framework has even open sourced their laptop schematics and designs to enable 3rd parties to design parts for the laptops. This can enable some cool reuse capabilities. For instance, once your needs outgrow the capabilities of your mainboard years down the road, you could turn it into a standalone PC with a 3D printed case, such as seen here:

This reduces waste by repurposing electronics for different tasks, rather than simply trashing them, which is a win-win in my book.

Flexibility / Customizability

Framework offers awesome flexibility and customizability that I’ve loved:

• Do you need an ungodly 26TB ¹ of storage? You can do that!
• Do you want 96GBs of RAM like an insane person (like me)? You can do that!
• Do you want a headphone jack? You can do that!
• Do you want 2 USB A and 4 USB C ports? You can do that!
• Do you need a dedicated graphics card? You can do that!

The Framework 16 Laptop offers 6 expansion cards slots for your choice of USB-A, USB-C, SD & Micro-SD Card readers, ethernet, HDMI, and more. One of these is required to be a USB-C, but beyond that you’ve got so much flexibility in making the machine meet your needs.

The laptop also features an Expansion Bay slot that allows you to plug in a Dedicated Graphics Module or add additional storage. But, by default you start with an Expansion Bay Shell that fills the slot, but allows you to upgrade in the future, meaning you don’t have to purchase the extra $500 graphics module if you don’t need it immediately.

Also, the Framework 16 offers flexibility in terms of keyboard placement and layout, and offer additional customization items, such as an optional Numpad or an LED Matrix (which I’ve enjoyed having and plan to mess with more in the future).

Misc Features

I’ve appreciated the inclusion of physical disconnect switches for the camera / microphone, allowing me to completely disable device access when I don’t need them.

One of my worries in purchasing was whether the touchpad would live up to my expectations set by the Macbook. Fortunately, I have been pleasantly surprised by the Framework’s touchpad—it has been accurate, sensitive, and has had the gestures I have grown to expect. Overall it hits the intuitive experience I want/need from a touchpad. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the Macbook’s, but it gets close enough!

The Less Loved Aspects

• The cost is substantial (my build ended up being ~$1900). While still cheaper than the Macbook pro, it is definitely more expensive than other options out there. I think there are multiple features / selling points that justify the cost, especially the reusability aspect.
• The battery charge is all right. I would like more here, but for a workhorse machine, it’s probably sufficient — I’m coming from primarily using a desktop for my daily work the past 2ish years, in which I have infinite battery, so I likely am somewhat skewed in this regard.
• BIOS Update - the Framework 16 has a BIOS update that consumers should do. So depending on the laptop recipient this can be intimidating to do (think: your mom). It was relatively straightforward for me to do via LVFS, but I can’t speak to the Windows or off-the-beaten-path Linux experience. Definitely not a deal-breaker, just a minor note.

Conclusion

So far I have loved my new Framework 16 Laptop. It provides a lot of flexibility, makes upgrading and repairing easy (and is actually possible vs other laptops), and provides options for long-term reusability. It’s shaping up to be an awesome machine that’s totally been worth it so far! 👏

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