alt Hacker NewsCan you really compare failing components to an optional update they sent you an email to encourage you to install that bricks your working laptop? This is 100% their responsibility to test thoroughly before recommending right?
I agree nothing is perfect in the grand scheme, there are always trade offs. But using that as argument against this specific failure being wrong and bad doesn't help IMO. Framework should handle this better, and maybe they still will.
I think all manufacturers generally vet their BIOS updates and that it's probably not possible to stop 100% of all BIOS update failures.
This laptop has been owned for 3 years, so you have to benchmark against other 3-year-old laptops. What percentage of those fail or get bricked in some way? What is the cost of a solution for those failures?
It would be nice if this laptop had a BIOS recovery feature, and perhaps competing laptops have such a thing as well. I've mostly seen that feature with desktop gaming boards, and if it's common with other PC laptops, Framework should implement it.
If an update bricks your MacBook Pro or Lenovo, I imagine the cost and method of repair is exactly the same. These laptops get sent to a service depot or a tech comes out to your house, and they replace the board. Unless you happen to find an extremely nerdy repair shop like a Louis Rossmann situation, the techs don't mess with reflashing BIOS or other board-level stuff like replacing capacitors. It's just not really worth the labor/parts balance. Spending an hour or more on labor will likely cost more than spending 10 minutes on labor and $400 on parts.
Perhaps this looks worse for Framework because you the consumer is seeing how the sausage is made. Framework doesn't have a white glove repair service since the computer is designed to not need one. You're just buying the part yourself and installing it.
This solution doesn't cost more than the competition, and maybe it even costs less. Plus, you might even get an upgraded board out of it, which is unheard of with the competition. But it doesn't feel like "repairability" compared to dropping off your computer at your local certified Dell or Apple tech and picking it back up "repaired."