I got mine at the end of 2021 and then used it till the mid-2023.

I know that it’s not a fair comparison, but I still compare it to macbooks because I’m a mac user for years.

Pros

- Linux support is amazing, basically you just install one of the popular distros and ‘it works’ (c). I used PopOS and was pretty happy. You also get all the Linux tools like eBPF out of the box, which is +1 compared to mac.

- Extensibility is a big deal. You can get 1 TB / 32 GB version for pennies compared to mac, where upgrades from the base are ridiculously expensive.

- Design and look is very neat.

- Keyboard is a classic one and also good.

Cons

- Battery life is really bad; same with cooling. At some point I started having more meetings at work and it gets extremely hot, noisy, and dies very quickly.

- Touchpad is just subpar to mac. Also chassis rigidity is meh. I know they improved the display cover design (switched to CNC), but I have the first revision.

- Display is 2K’ish. I don’t really understand, why they go with this resolution. Even their new display is around 2.5K. IMO, Linux works best either with 1080p/1K or 4K with x2 scaling (I prefer the latter) because fractional scaling is bad. I struggled a lot with external 4K monitor because it was nearly impossible to adjust all sizes so texts were good on both and especially when you disconnect and go portable. I know it’s Linux and you can DIY everything, but for me it was just too much of a headache.

I still fully support this company and wish them all the best, but since getting the MacBook Pro 14 with M2 (company’s, not personal) in the mid-2023 my Framework is waiting for two things: i) 4K display module; and ii) ARM main board. If they release these upgrades I will jump into Framework right away and give it another try.

So I recommend it if Pros are more important than Cons for you.

UPD: formatting and conclusion