Image description: Image shows batches 1, 2 and 3 sold out for the Ryzen 7 7840HS which costs $1,399.
cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/1226322
For now both DIY and prebuild edition (all configurations) are in batch 4 which ships in late Q4 2023.
For $1700.
Translation: no
The fact that it’s not junk in 3 years is worth a bit of a premium.
If you want to run a 2016 macbook chassis until the end of time you certainly are in the demographic for these things.
Not everyone wants lightbar or webcam notch. Early 2010s were peak MacBook designs IMO. It still was solid OS and the laptops had magsafe and fullsize USB.
I have never wanted any apple anything. The chassis styling is not my bag, the “innovations” they try to force on to the industry are even worse.
I do admit that many many people think that it was peak laptop and apple still makes basically the same laptop.
My daily driver is an asus g14. I can see framework getting popular and aftermarket chassis coming out that are more my preference.
I still won’t spend an extra 35% for a laptop with swappable hardware, not when I can sell the whole thing into the used market for more than that 35% difference and get a whole new kit every 5 years.
15% premium and a full customization market? That’s another question. Chicken and egg thing and I’m paying attention for my next actual replacement system.
Yeah I see your point there. It is indeed a bit of chicken and egg problem, but it’s not 35% for laptop with swap-able hardware. The customization is probably the main selling point. If you want Ethernet port in your laptop, that rules out pretty much any recent model out there. Add upgrade-able memory, storage (or an option for multiple storage devices), some more specific port selection (like full size HDMI) and you might only have handful of models to choose from.
Can you do a lot of that with USB-C dongle? Sure, but dongle isn’t built in and also costs extra money. Are there many people out there that don’t need any of these ports? Sure! But if you’re one of those that do, this might be your only real option. Especially once we get to the more exotic modules like that RGB Macropad.
I’m personally not in that market at all, but I definitely see why people might want this and saying that it’s 35% markup just for the ability to upgrade and repair is missing the point a bit.