In my opinion, unless you require a feature you can only get on a mac, such as macOS, multi-day battery life, or a powerful GPU (and you can’t afford the FW16 instead), you should get the Framework Laptop.

​

You have not mentioned a specific use case in your post, and I am still curious what that is. But since you have not, for the time being I will assume both laptops would work, at least at a basic level, for you. With that, here are the benefits of each laptop I think are worth considering, and why the Framework Laptop 13 or Laptop 16 would be a better option.

The Macbook Pro will likely have a more powerful GPU than at least the FW13. It will have a higher resolution screen, and a higher refresh rate one at that. The Macbook Pro will have a longer battery life and better speakers, although both of those can be solved for less than the price increase from the FW13 (with a power bank and headphones). You may prefer the trackpad on the Macbook Pro, however this is really up to personal preference (I for one quite dislike the Macbook’s vibration trackpad), and many users of the FW13 have said the trackpad on that is quite good in its own right. Lastly, you may prefer macOS over Windows 11 or a Linux distribution, but since you are considering both laptops from the outset, I will ignore this point here.

The Framework Laptop 13 has numerous benefits over the Macbook Pro in my opinion. First and more obviously, the repairability, upgradeability, customization, and sustainability are all unparelleled compared to the Macbook Pro. The FW13 has had 4 different generations of motherboards from different CPU motherboards, and with how well they’ve designed and expanded their product range in just 3 years, there’s no reason to think future generations of even faster processors won’t be released in the future. With just this point, the price-to-performance of the FW13 in the long term makes more sense than just the immediate purchase. Another very important point is that if your workload benefits from them, the doubling of RAM and storage will allow you to better run your tasks, or save ~$80 if you decide to better match the Macbook Pro and FW13 specs. Additionally, being able to upgrade these components in the future, as well as swap ports for your use case, make this a far more flexible laptop, not just during purchase, but for the many years of use this laptop will receive.

But there are more benefits than just the performance and pricing. Unless you wish to pay hundreds of more dollars for AppleCare, the Framework Laptop is also a far safer investment if there is any likelihood of the screen, casing, or keyboard/trackpad breaking during your normal operation. You likely already know about Apple’s famously anti-consumer repair policies, but since it seems like you are buying the DIY edition of the FW13, I’ll summarize it as the fact that repairs are no more than 10% the price of the product, rather than 50% to 90%.

There are several benefits you gain by purchasing a Framework Laptop 16 instead of Laptop 13, if you are willing to wait for your batch to ship and for paying an equivalent price to the Macbook Pro. For starters, the graphics card performance will be more comparable between the two laptops, although in-depth testing will be needed for more accurate information. Even without a GPU, the FW16 has a greatly improved screen (better color accuracy, 165Hz refresh rate, higher resolution) over the FW13. The battery is also about 30% greater in capacity than even the upgraded battery in the Ryzen 7 FW13 model. Additionally, if you don’t require a powerful GPU, you still gain the same advantage as the FW13 with being able to upgrade both the processor and now graphics in the future, when models even faster than that of the Macbook Pro are released.

​

In summary, I would strongly suggest purchasing a Framework Laptop 13 if its unprecedented repairability and upgradeability are of interest to you. I would also strongly suggest considering a Framework laptop 16 if you require more powerful or even more flexible hardware. Unless you absolutely need Macbook-specific features like macOS or your software only runs on macOS, there is little reason to purchase a Macbook Pro over either model of laptop from Framework. I hope this is helpful for your purchasing decision. I would be very interested of hearing your experiences here after you make your purchase!

512gb of storage is going to be pretty rough, and unlike the Framework, you can’t expand it down the line. If something breaks, you’ll be at Apple’s mercy to get it fixed.

Aside from that, the MacBook will be objectively better in every way.

Can’t give you an answer - you’re comparing two different things. We’re not psychic and don’t have any idea what you’d be using it for.

Different CPU architecture now, so you can only run macOS. It’s not like the Intel Mac days when you could run Windows, Linux etc natively on the Macs.

The Mac is the close to the anti-framework. It’s pretty much unrepairable and expandable. The batteries are glued in and the storage is soldered on.

As someone who’s had a MacBook Pro 2020 PRE M series… I’m getting a framework because I broke my screen a month out of warranty only to be quoted 500 dollars, with a trade in price of zero. With this said, MacBooks last quite a long time and are quite powerful and efficient. Think of it like this instead:

do you want an s-tier machine now that will slowly become worse and worse over time (with a shelf life of about 7 years? I think that’s a fair assumption with all the ai innovations afoot) And when do you want to upgrade? How much do you want to spend on the upgrade? And what will you do with the computer when you are done with it?

you could otherwise go for the machine that will be closer to B-tier (all the problems you listed are valid concerns and knock it down even though it has solid specs), but that also could become a better or stay a more consistent machine over time. Upgradability makes the framework a better “investment” for the long haul, since you can potentially improve parts or even downgrade(say for friend who really just needs a Chromebook).

This however all is based on the premise that framework exists for more than 7 years. Apple should still exist, they should still support it, and they will definitely improve their stuff. Framework is still in a position where they could fail with bad guidance and an overall smaller user base. Making parts is still somewhat open source, so that’s encouraging, but who’s to say if amd, intel or whatever new arm processors that come out don’t break their system.

​

soooo. The choice is yours! Both are solid enough options in their own right.

and last bit of thought: MacOS is an excellent system and I’m actually gonna miss it a bit when switching to framework. So much so that I might still end up getting a Mac mini to do some of the Mac stuff I’ve been doing (Logic, photomator, and Final Cut are just that good for me). Linux is tinkery and does take time to make it work the way you want to I’ve begun to be wary of windows and all of its telemetry and slapdashed ai stuff. Framework can’t do macOS (and hackintosh is doing the most).

​

happy choosing, and feel free to try and then return the framework if it isn’t for you.

Apples to oranges. With mac it will be quieter, better battery and m3 will probably excel in some productivity tasks. For framework you are getting a laptop that every single piece can be upgraded, replaced by the user. I was going to go with macbook. I was waiting for an m3. Then, my current laptop Acer predator, the keyboard failed in one area and battery needed replacing at the same the ryzen version was announced. I couldnt fix the keyboard and the battery is glued down. This sold me on framework. My laptop is now basically a desktop. For me, the ryzen framework fits my uses perfectly. Mostly office, home, light gaming. The mac would as well but i like what framework is doing. I like the innovation, the push for user repairability. I also dont have any apple products. I also the options to switch out bezels, tinker, customize it. Framework has survived the first couple of years and kept good on offering newer gen mobos and parts. I am ready to invest in them. The laptops not perfect but is what i am looking for my use case.

Before you make a choice, think about what you need.

If you need a device that can run macOS and macOS applications well, then you need a mac. If you need a computer capable of running Windows applications well and offers decent Linux support, then the Framework makes the most sense.

7840u has been pretty great but it’s not going to top an m3.

Ultimately it’s going to come down to which you prefer more, repairability or speed. And being locked into Apple’s ecosystem.

do you buy the unrepairable laptop, or the super repairable one? dumb question aside, depends on your use case

framework is better than mac in one particular field - upgradability and repairability. in all other fields mac is better. if you like tinkering, like to fix things by yourself or want to support really good startup get the framework, otherwise get mac

The only ways the Framework is better than the Mac is upgradeability and repairability. Depending on who you are, this could be a no-brainer, a requirement, based on what you do or how careless you are, or maybe you don’t care.

Oh and there’s the ability to use Windows and/or Linux, if that’s something you care about or need, and the ability to swap the USB port modules with other ones.

Other than those, the Mac wins in almost every other field. Better screen, better speakers, way better battery life, better trackpad, and I don’t know if this is a problem with AMD systems, but Apple Silicon Macs don’t turn into fireballs or vacuum cleaners doing most tasks.

You better add Apple care to the price. I something happens to the Macbook, it will be expensive to fix.

Also, you better be sure you won’t need more storage or memory in the future.

I had the choice to make, I had an M1 Macbook air which I dropped. The damages/dents were not enough for Applecare to fix it. There is also a deductible, so it’s not free.

I also got a Macbook M1 pro which I had to baby because I would likely be cost prohibitive to fix.

The Framework laptop is definitely not the best laptop in the world, but for the first time, it feels like my laptop, I have full control on the hardware, a good upgrade path and it’s easy to fix myself in case of problem, I can get all the parts very easily.

It looks like it might not be the laptop for you, and that’s fine.