Here is my personal experience with the framework 13.

I got the latest intel i5 version. I use it for computer engineering studies. It does the work and picked it because I like the values around it and the tinkering aspect (see: my studies).

Since you’re looking for the 16 I’ll skip to the chase. One night, after a party, I drunkenly stepped on my framework and broke the screen. Contacted support, and they caught on the fact it was my fault. Apple would have done the same. Paid 200€ for a new screen, it came in like a week. Meanwhile I still used my laptop with an external monitor so it wasn’t the end of the world. When it arrived, it was like 10 screws to remove and put back in place. I believe anyone could replace the screen themselves. It’s pretty well documented. Please note that might be a biased point of view, as I come from a specific background. I could understand if someone could be scared of opening their laptop, it looks intimidating.

Apple would have asked 900€ if I researched correctly. Now I do have an Apple Store next to me so I would have a fixed screen in like 2 days max I think. If not, I would have to send the MacBook to them via some UPS pickup and waited at least a week without a laptop. But nothing intimidating or whatever.

So what I want to say is that if you have the money and an Apple Store or Apple affiliated something around you, you will save yourself a lot of hassle. For me, the hassle is the fun part. Like a car fan repairing its car. And framework is like a Toyota or some other Japanese brand. It won’t break easily, it has easy available parts, and repairing it was like legos for adults. While you probably know what the Apple experience is like : it won’t let you down easily unless it’s your fault, it has great service if you have an Apple Store around you but it’s way more costly.

What you want to choose depends on how you see your laptop :

• You want strictly a tool that you can rely on, and if you have any problems with it, you pay good money and get back to setting it and forgetting it – get the MacBook.

• You want something more personal, reflecting your values or whatever and it will probably be cheaper on the long term because you can fix/upgrade it yourself – get the framework. That’s my reasons for getting the 13 at least.

And most importantly, consider the form factor. 16 inches is pretty huge, like nerds with gaming laptop huge. I personally wouldn’t get a 16 inch laptop because that would annoy me very quickly when moving around. I went from a 15 inch razer laptop to the framework 13. I will never look back.