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@ f5415d16:e1b2706d
2025-02-25 22:30:49
i've been using a framework laptop for years. im currently posting this from a framework laptop. i watched the framework presentation. i have thoughts
first of all, AI. nobody on this cursed network is normal about AI so if you need to do some breathing exercises before reading the rest of the paragraph i understand. the newest generation of framework 13 AMD mainboards come with "ryzen ai 300 series" APUs. this is just what the new APUs are called. there is no "ryzen 300 series" APUs that they could have used instead. they're pretty cool chips. the desktop comes with "ryzen ai max+" APUs. these are very cool chips and will sell like gold pans. this is because it has a high speed unified memory architecture, something that is simultaneously great for cost-effective machine learning and hard to come by. their demo of loading all of deepseek onto four computers costing a total of $8000 is very impressive. it doesn't matter that this is a niche usecase, this is a targeted product. and no, it isn't the antichrist, it's just an APU that can load a large neural network into memory that would usually require massive amounts of budget for nvidia hardware and a power consumption that requires a nuanced discussion. also, the copilot button is a microsoft decree, there's not too much they can do about it
next, some minor notes. the new one-key keyboard thing they're releasing is pretty cool. very niche, but seems fun. im never maining a 16-inch laptop though. the colored modules look ugly as hell in a silver chassis but maybe they'll look better in the colored 12-inch laptops. the 12-inch laptops themselves are very cool, i like their aesthetic and touch screens are always nice to see. they will have to get the price pretty low to compete though, and that's something they've seemed to struggle with in the past with their history of more luxury pricing
a lot of the criticism i share from the presentation is with the desktop. overall, it's an incredible machine, but only because of AMD's APU. like all other frameworks, it's essentially a prebuilt but they took the motherboard out of the chassis before shipping it so you feel like you made it yourself. looking at the machine, i see no moat once AMD's chip hits other manufacturers, and it will. framework appears to be first to market, and that makes sense since their laptops are very popular with developers, but that is only a temporary advantage. that's also ignoring the memory. it is bad that it's soldered, but you need to know the context of their decision. apple use soldered memory on their new ARM chips for higher bandwidth. graphics cards use soldered memory for higher bandwidth. framework tried to use LPCAMM2, but they weren't able to get it to work, whether it was bandwidth or space or time. ive also seen some people saying their memory upgrades were massively overpriced. the upgrade from 32gb to 64gb is $500. a replacement lenovo LPDDR5x 35gb 7500 mhz module is $400 (off sale). it's not that mismatched, even assuming framework is using the same memory as lenovo
i think the bigger problem, at least from my perspective, is that the core framework product isn't that good. the build quality of the laptops are terrible, with another chassis screw breaking off every time i have to open it to clear the fan (a process involving repasting the CPU for some reason), with my bezel breaking less than a year in, making the privacy buttons nonfunctional (occasionally letting the webcam activate when i have it in the off position), with USB ports randomly dying and leaving the mainboard useless. their accessorizes are also poorly made, with me breaking maybe three OEM charging cables on both ends and one OEM charging brick during normal use. the module system as well has proven completely pointless, seemingly only serving to pass on I/O costs to the consumer through $20 usb-to-hdmi adapters. the space required for a module is wide enough that you can only fit four (!!!) usb ports on the entire laptop, yet small enough that adding an ethernet port requires a massive bump out the side of the device. ive seen $200 chromebooks with better I/O than a $1500 framework, and similar durability for what it's worth. they're also not really that repairable. sure, you can replace the headphone jack daughterboard, but more commonly failing components like the USB controllers require a full new motherboard, costing most of the original purchase price if you're outside of their one-year (!!!) warranty. it's effectively as repairable as any other laptop in it's price range with socketed RAM
overall, the new products seem cool, but i will probably never buy a framework product again until their build quality becomes better than the chromebooks i used in elementary school. until then, ill keep waiting for a competitor to come around and make something that i can actually rely on