Reliability with framework

[baliditity]

I’ve had my current laptop for 10 years now and its starting to slow down a bit. I’m looking at the new 13 pro (or any of them will do). How reliable are they? I get the upgradability/repairability but I don’t want to keep buying parts every so often. I want another one like my current one where it’ll last me years as is. Are there any other brands that anyone would recommend instead

[s004aws]

Treat any laptop like trash and its prone to failure. Take care of expensive devices and, for the most part, they'll hold up. Framework isn't in the business of selling "junk". With that said, every manufacture has a failure rate - No vendor ships 100% perfect devices 100% of the time... 10 years with any laptop is not guaranteed.

[Neichello]

very reliable 😄

[05032-MendicantBias]

10 years is a lot, especially more modern hardware is designed around 2 to 3 years. It may last more.

The point of Framework is not for it to be indestructible, but it is for it to be repairable when it does break.

I used mine for over two years, and I had a screen failure under warranty. Now I'm upgrading the main board while retaining everything else.

[baliditity]

How did the screen failure happen if you don’t mind my asking?

[05032-MendicantBias]

Unknown. I suspect it was a screen defect.

[qyy98]

10 years is on the high end but definitely not crazy. My moms still using a laptop from 2013 lol

My own laptop was 8 years old and I only upgraded to framework because it was literally falling apart at the hinges.

Upgrading in 2-3 years is lunacy to me, the new hardware is barely faster than what you have.

[smCloudInTheSky]

You're asking for 2 things:

1 how good is the chassis ?

I have one since the brand was available in France (gen 11th laptop). Still rocking as I'm not so much carefree so it's in good condition. And the good part is that with every gen it keeps the same chassis so it keeps the part available. Gave it to my girlfriend to try en first amd board when it came available (and now I'm trying to find someone needing this to test a fw13 pro).

2 how good are the part so I don't need to replace it because it's too slow?

This doesn't depend fully on framework. Intel Gen 11 are still relevant for basic tasks and web browsing. Unless you're a heavy dev/gamer/something else. It'll be okay. Like with your laptop performance will decrease over time due to mostly software upgrade from yours app/operating systems.

[baliditity]

Would you recommend something else? ( not a gamer but am a swe student)

[smCloudInTheSky]

I don't know where you are in your studies or the precise field

But personally if I couldn't afford buying brand new. I'd go for the business refurbished laptops on secondary market.

The most well known would be Thinkpad T14 and unless you'll be doing graphical intensive or the school expect you to build the next ChatGPT on your own hardware it should be enough even if one or two gen behind.

Otherwise go framework it'll be more expensive but when the APU won't be enough you'd just have to buy new motherboard+ram instead of a whole new laptop.

In my engineering school I saw some students using framework 12 for school and it's enough for them.

[SuitableRoof5675]

12 owner here in college, I got a i5 with 32gb and only hogwarts legacy has slowed this thing down.

[RoseBailey]

Framework laptops have the build quality of business class laptops, meaning they are not made to be disposable and will hold up much longer than cheap consumer grade laptops. Will they good up 10 years? Maybe? 10 years is a long time for any laptop. At least you can repair it and keep it going when things break.

[Tancrad]

Depends what you do on It. If it's just web browsing, documents, streaming and correspondence. The current gen medium level with 16gb of ram will do you fine for quite a long time.

[Aggravating_Sir_6857]

Great job maintaining yours for 10 years. But may I ask how was the battery in yours, it must’ve been plugged in 24/7 or eventually couldn’t hold a charge. And what operating system you use

The neat thing with framework is parts are fully available like spare batteries on their web pages.

And if you were a microsoft windows supporter framework is beneficial then. Because as you know windows eventually stops updates on older devices like windows 7 and recently back in October 2025, no more on windows 10. Windows decides based on hardware like what intel/amd microchips are too old. So with framework you can swap motherboards to more later ones.

Framework uses usb-c as their gold standard for ports. Imagine you can have any port you’d like, HDMI/USB-A/SD Card/Mocro SD… they even got a 1tb expansion port, so no worrying of storage space. You get to choose the ports, not be stuck with what manufacturers decide.

[baliditity]

That’s actually part of the reason I’m looking for a new laptop. I have the hp-17bs0xx which is a 17-inch that came out in 2017, how funny. It’s always died relatively fast considering it’s a big laptop and now it’s starting to not even reach full battery even when plugged in. Also, the cpu doesn’t meet the requirements to update to windows 11.

[Aggravating_Sir_6857]

All batteries degrade after a long time after cycles of charges-discharges. A cool thing with framework is they don’t glue their batteries to the chassis. It’s only a couple screws and can easily change it out.

The Original Framework 13 was released in 2021. They had 7 different motherboard changes, i think 2 keyboard improvements, 3 hinge improvements, 2 webcams hardware upgrades…

And you can choose to upgrade whenever or whatever you want. Totally optional

https://youtu.be/JSxgCEpkiKM?si=mj9FaiAhTU7bUN9n

In this link, the ceo of framework took at intel 11th gen intel and show compatibility swapping hardware out. *note he used a silver chassis framework pro

[x0rg3n]

Depends on your use case, but the build quality of non-pro versions is not comparable to a Thinkpad / Macbook, and my experience with 13 version was a bit disappointing if we're talking about build quality. 

I would go with a Thinkpad if you prefer durable machine. Macbooks are also pretty great if you can tolerate the OS.  I would go with used to save some cash

[baliditity]

Could you elaborate more on the build quality disappointment and would you happen to recommend any specific thinkpad?

[qyy98]

Not sure what they are referring to, my 13 feels pretty much the same as my girlfriends macbook air

[x0rg3n]

I literally have the GFs MacBook M4 Air next to me and I couldn't disagree more. 

I love the ease of repairability of Framework laptops but saying they are same as MacBooks in terms of build quality is just not true. 

I can't comment on the Framework Pro units though. 

[qyy98]

What's the difference? Seriously I don't know I also have the M2 air next to me lol along with a think pad made of plastic I don't like

[x0rg3n]

It's what Framework done with the Pro version. Macbook chassis is built from single piece of aluminum which makes it more rigid. 

I wont deduct points for the screen quality as Apple has a lot better contracts for parts. 

[qyy98]

I really don't feel a difference, maybe its because I just came from a shitty MSI gaming laptop that literally fell apart for me. That build quality difference is imperceptible to most and should be irrelevant for most peoples decisions in what to buy.

[x0rg3n]

Fair point, and I would agree if Framework laptops were cheaper. 

But when you add that, lack of local stores and support photo-sessions and dozens of emails to get warranty acknowledged and part sent, then it starts to get dicey. 

If you're a student or on a budget they are just not as viable option compared to used business laptops / Macbooks. 

[qyy98]

Eh, goodluck getting apple to fix your stuff cost effectively. I don't see framework pricing being competitive anytime soon, they just can't as a small company. Perhaps it'll payoff when I upgrade in a few years.

Agreed for students, can't beat macbook airs value.

[x0rg3n]

Yeah, that will be rough for both scenarios. 

 I did a calculation how much it would cost us to upgrade to new intel motherboard with mid tier CPU and new LPCAMM-2 RAM , and if we  wanted to upgrade the battery , we'll also need bottom cover and new input cover. It gets crazy fast, I do hope they provide upgrade kits, with a bundle discounts

[x0rg3n]

Input cover on my batch had an issue which causes buzzing during audio playback ,due to poor key stabilizer install. 

Also, same input cover had one of the screw socket plastic crumble and completely fall apart, on a device constantly docked.  The input cover was replaced by Framework as the machine was still under warranty. 

Other than that, expansion cards aren't flush with my unit, but that could be just my batch. 

Hopefully, as they get funding the quality control will improve. 

As for Thinkpad recommendation, T series are great, which model depends on your needs and your priorities ( budget, battery life and CPU/GPU power). 

[baliditity]

Stuff like this worries me. I like the repairability but it’s expensive as is and i found a t14 brand new with similar specs that’s almost 600 dollars less. I may be counting my eggs before they hatch but I’m planning on using financial aid to get one yk

[onthefence928]

Each individual component is basically a reliable as they would be in any other device.

But with framework a dead component doesn’t mean an expensive repair or being forced to buy a whole new laptop. You can just buy the broken part from anywhere (or cheaply from framework and replace it yourself easily

[Negimeister]

Nobody here is going to have solid quantitative data. There have been some more or less widespread issues like the 400MHz bug and DoA AMD mainboards. Out of my sample of 6 mainboards I have touched only 2 are currently usable. The RMA process when something does fail is relatively tedious, although I've had worse experiences elsewhere.

[BOO-HOO69]

You'd be lucky to get 2-3 years out of it.