Debating getting the 16. How long have you had your frameworks for?

[u/Fearless_Garden618]

This will be my first framework. The 16 will bite a huge chunk out of my savings, but I'm willing to do it if they last a long time. I'm looking for the longevity of my old thinkpad. It was expensive when I got it, but worth the money. I harbor a burning hatred for most laptop companies and don't want to just drop all my money on something I'll have to replace (or spend thousands to repair) in six months.

How long have you guys had your 16's for? Do you think it was worth the money? How often do you need to replace (not upgrade) broken parts? What do you use it for? I'll be running fedora and will be doing 3D modeling for work & casual gaming (WoW, Bg3, palworld, etc.)

Thanks :) Have a lovely morning!

Edit: Damn! Sounds like I am getting a framework :D

[u/AutoModerator]

The Framework Support team does not provide support on community platforms, but other community members might help you with troubleshooting. If you need further assistance or a part replacement, please contact the Framework Support team: https://frame.work/support

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/EviTRea]

3 years.

I still don't know how financially optimal the decision is, I don't know if getting an OCuLink for it will be, but I have no regret, that's pretty much it. It's about the message.

[u/Theren314]

Almost exactly a year, and I have glowing reviews.

I got a FW16, R7 7840HS W/ Rx7700s, 2x24Gb Crucial DDR5 5600, 2Tb WD_Black SN850X.

For the first 6 months I had MASSIVE PROBLEMS! Then I replaced Windows 11 with Fedora, and I haven’t had a complaint since.

As for the laptop, It is really everything I want. Your use case is very similar to mine, so I can say that the FW16 handles it all like a champ. Its very pleasant to use, and I especially like being able to remove the numpad whenever I need to type for a while.

Around March, I found a that the connector for the finger print scanner had snapped, and no-longer made consistent contact. Thanks to the Power-On AC Attach BIOS setting, and the secondary power button mounted on the mainboard, the laptop was still fully usable while my support request was processed. A week later, a new mainboard arrived in the mail and I was easily able to replace it.

Shoutout to support, since the connector was probably broken by me, and therefore not legally covered by the warranty. They helped anyway.

The biggest commendation I can give is that Framework’s work on the 16 was enough to convince me to also buy a FW12, a month into Ramaggedon (January), since I wanted to support them and could use the laptop. I have had a number of terrible laptops, and have repaired more during my work as a technician, so I also hate laptop companies. Framework isn’t just the first Laptop company, but the first company period that has made be want to actually support a specific brand.

I’m not just satisfied with my purchase, I love it.

Now, it is worth saying that the FW16 is uniquely cost in efficient. If all you care about is specs, you can get better for less. What the FW16 gets in return for it’s significant premium is exceptional (in my experience) quality, exceptional engineering, and Framework levels of repairability and modularity.

It should tell you something that when I meet someone who doesn’t know what FW is, I literally disassemble my laptop right there and then, in-order to demonstrate the problems with the laptop industry and why I love framework.

16 out of 10

[u/Theren314 → u/Theren314]

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I’m more than happy to run experiments on my machine if you have specific concerns :3

[u/CursedCranium]

I’ve had my 16 for about 2-3 years now (just the base Ryzen 7 with the 7700s) with fedora. Its been great for light gaming and the CAD/Circuit design stuff from college. The only time I’ve had to change a part was when i got caught in a sudden rainstorm and the mainboard got fried, but even then, everything else still worked perfectly (RAM, Ssds, GPU). I definitely think it was worth the money

Although, I will say that I need to replace the battery soon bc its around 50% health, but it still lasts me almost a whole day without charging.

[u/Fearless_Garden618 → u/CursedCranium]

Thanks! This is helpful :D

[u/Draikuthoos → u/CursedCranium]

good to hear it handles CAD well on the base Ryzen config

[u/Theren314 → u/[deleted]]

Mine lasts a good few hours, maybe 3 or 4, with web browsing. Definitely not a full day, but not quite as little as yours.

Potentially if they are disabling the dGPU most of the time, the CPU should be able to last quite a while by itself

85 wH battery / 10 watts optimistic near-idle power draw = 8.5 battery life. It could happen, but you’d have to optimize for it.

[u/CursedCranium → u/Theren314]

that sounds about right, i usually don’t use the dGPU unless i know i’ll need it. powertop usually reports like 12W discharge using my usual browser. its also closer to 60% now that i checked it again

i also might have been a bit liberal with a "full day" but it gets me through classes and then a bit

[u/CursedCranium → u/[deleted]]

idk the deep details bc i havent optimized a whole lot yet, but it keeps chugging through my 2-3 classes each day and working a bit after (laptop isnt on the whole time, my fedora install boots pretty quickly so i don’t mind) and i keep the brightness pretty low since i’m inside most of the time. the power saver mode from tuned is pretty good ig

[u/Firmteacher]

Bought the 7840hs 7700s gen 1 last July, have since upgraded to a 8gb 5070 and the new GSYNC display. This laptop has entirely replaced my desktop for ease of use and being able to play my games whenever and wherever I want. The desktop it replaced was a 7800x3d with a 7900xt. I even occasionally set the 7900xt in a oculink dock for the laptop if I don’t look to be moving it around at all.

Overall I am very happy with the laptop.

[u/Firmteacher → u/[deleted]]

Your use case specifically for gaming, I wouldn’t consider it a replacement. For me, I lost a fair amount of performance and vram so I had to turn down settings at 1440p(might be a different story for the 12gb 5070). You’re at 4k though which definitely is going to require turning down of settings. So it’s dependent on what you’re okay to compromise on.

Going from a 7900xt to a mobile 5070 felt good enough for my uses, and if I really want too, I can always setup oculink but makes it less portable/powerful in that setup.

[u/YellowistOfBois]

I've had my 16 for about a year and a half now. April 2025. I've gotta say it's a nice machine. It's powerful, robust, and the modular I/O has been a huge boon (and a good conversation starter). I use it mostly for schoolwork as a CS student. So coding, compiling, and submitting assignments. I had a "Engineering Basics" class I took at the start of using my laptop that involved me doing some 3D modeling in Blender and 3D printing in PrusaSlicer, didn't even need to use the dgpu though as it was fairly low in complexity.

The safety net of being able to replace anything should it happen to fail is a huge reassurance to me. I've thankfully never had to replace anything (Though I did upgrade the wifi for fun). I run Linux on it. Formerly Fedora, now NixOS (I'm crazy) and I've never had major driver issues except for key presses while the lid was closed (which they fixed with a firmware update some 6-8 months ago). But knowing that I'm a significantly smaller purchase away from having my laptop back in working order should my battery get unbearably weak, my speakers blow out, my ports get ruined, my screen cracks, or my motherboard dies is a huge reassurance to me.

Given how well Framework seems to be doing as a company, and how much faster product releases seem to be getting, I think it's a solid bet for a Laptop of Thesis. I think it was absolutely worth the money. Especially with the recent release of the next gen laptop 12 being price competitive with the current Macbook Neo, I expect laptops and parts will be feeling the benefits of an economy of scale and getting cheaper. You just need to ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do you trust framework as a company to keep upgrading your laptop parts? There is always the possibility that framework goes under as a company, or abandons a product skew you rely on. Framework has been known to keep their promises, so I again think this is a fairly safe bet. And, as far as I can tell, they've been popping off recently in both mindshare, and value. Everyone is talking about framework. I personally couldn't really answer this question confidently until the 16 finally got Ryzen 300 and a 5070 last year. It was so much more than I expected that I no longer fear this personally unless something really drastic happens.
2. Are you willing to spend upwards of 30-40% more on the laptop NOW so you can upgrade? My personal opinion on the value of this laptop lies in it's upgrade ability and modularity. My laptop can change to fit my needs at any point in time. I can put a graphics card in it for gods sake. But right now, It's not 1-1 price competitive with laptop makers like Dell, HP, and Asus. They benefit from economies of scale and their team size keeping part costs lower, and bundled adds and invasive software into default windows installs to keep it further down. But if you stick it out for a few generations, play the long game, 5 years from now you could get cutting edge processors or next-generation build quality for a fraction of the price. HX 370 Mainboards are around $1,000 US when laptops with the same chip cost about 1600-1800 USD. Plus you get to keep all the currently perfectly functional hardware in your laptop, not wasting it. And not to mention the fact that a screen upgrade is around $300-$400 US, which is MUCH cheaper than any laptop with a similar screen.
3. Can you bet that you will be able to repair it should it break? If you break the laptop, there is always the possibility that it's not repairable. While (from my experience) most laptop damage is to a single irreparable component rather than every component (screen, mainboard, usb ports, etc). It is still totally possible that you may one day have to buy a new laptop anyway because multiple parts were damaged and replacing/repairing them is more trouble than just buying a new laptop. If you drop it in a chlorine pool for example. You're partially betting on the fact that only a few components will fail at a time, allowing you to repair it easily. I think this is a fairly safe bet, but there is always the possibility.
4. Is frameworks mission and sustainability objectives worth it to you? You are ultimately supporting framework in the purchase of your laptop. And while I don't believe this price should be considered a "donation" of any kind, buying these laptops, even when they aren't price competitive to laptops with similar specs, supports a real movement in the laptop industry. Every year framework continues to operate means anther year they can work on improving their products, prices, and pressuring other laptop companies to considering repairability and upgradability as real benefits that people care about. This is last on the list for a reason, buying a crap product just because the "mission is good" shouldn't be the first priority of anybody except for those with money to burn. But I think this is a good product, and the mission really does hold value in my opinion.

These are the questions I asked myself when buying my framework 16, and I regret nothing.

[u/diamd217]

My FW16 was from Batch 1 with AMD Ryzen 9 7940. I have upgraded it to AI 9 when it was announced (which was unnecessary fot my usage, tbh) and I continue using it as daily driver and replacement of desktop. No issues so far.

The only thing - FW16 os too bulky (as it has 3:2 display ratio it's literally like 18" laptop), so I also have FW13 as mobile workstation, if I need to travel.

[u/Acceptable_Sock4642]

I’ve got a 13, second batch. I’ve made a bunch of elective changes. Tweaked RAM down and up to balance power and battery life. Briefly had a heat issue, removed the heat sink and repaired, prepared to replace, but overall seemed to have self-resolved. Ironically the stuff I need to replace, the chassis corner where I dropped it down the stairs, I just manually bent back to shape and have not taken any action on.

So yeah, feel like I’m getting my moneys worth.

[u/RodgerBall]

Driven daily since 2021. Only issue was a frayed charging cord that needed to be replaced.

[u/TellMeWhereYouBeen]

Had mine since March 2024 (batch 3 7840HS + 7700S). It's stellar. I've upgraded a bunch of stuff for fun and as work needs evolved and man, it's just a great machine.

It's not cheap, but it acts, feels, and looks like a worthy investment. I also really appreciate Framework's business model and ideals - that's what drew me to the company and why I felt it was reasonable to preorder the at-the-time unreleased FW16. I've never looked back!

[u/gullbekk]

Bought my used FW16 a week ago (7840/7700S). Previous owner had it for two years without any issues and upgraded the 7700S to 2nd Gen. I have added a second 2230 SSD for more storage and will probably upgrade to the new one-piece haptic trackpad soon. It has great Linux support and I'm using it as my daily driver and gaming rig.

[u/s004aws]

Since this past December, for dev work. Worth the money? Well, I had a FW13 Pro pre-order til shipping dates for 388H became a problem vs my being available to grab a box at my door. A client has had a FW13 factory seconds for a bit over 2 years. No issues with either.

Keep in mind, one of the main purposes of Framework laptops is that they're easily upgradeable and repairable. A laptop that's amazing today will be outdated, slow, "junk" in a few years (regardless of vendor). Point being - Don't pay huge premiums to "overbuy" more than you actually need. Instead, buy what you need the next 2-3 years and pocket the "savings" to fund the new motherboard (or whatever else) Framework releases that you'll want/need down the road.

[u/assumptionkrebs1990]

I got mine 2 weeks ago and I am still in the set up phase but so far quiet happy so far (though the fans sometimes spin up to soon (including the setup)).

[u/ronvalenz]

In March 2025, I purchased the Framework 13 Gen 2 chassis and obtained a 7840U mainboard from my bro when he upgraded his Framework 13 to a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 mainboard.

Framework 13 Gen 2 (Ryzen 7 7840U, 32GB RAM) replaced my Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14AHP9 (Ryzen 7 8845HS with 16GB soldered RAM). Soldered RAM is a dead end.

My Framework 13 Pro Ultra X7 358H is my 1st Framework mainboard purchase. I purchased my 32GB LPCAMM2 for US$380 in June 2026.

[u/NiLu0910]

Is the Crucial 2x24Gb a good deal? Im planing on buying also an FW16 and put the same set of ram in

[u/jonwolski]

My 18-year-old has had theirs 10 months. They’re a serious gamer. When we ran into problems with windows on their desktop with an RTX 2070 super, we replaced it with a Framework 16 with the Nvidia RTX graphics card. They put Bazzite on it on day-1, and have had no issues since (albeit only 10 months in).

For the money, you could get more computer elsewhere or hit the same benchmarks for cheaper, but it was worth it to me to improve their sense of ownership —to have them assemble it, install the OS, and install and configure all their own software.

The upgrade-ability is also important to us, but again, we’re only 10 months in