I’m not sure that there’s any such thing as a “generic laptop battery”. They’re still made to fit one or maybe a handful of models. AFAICT, buying a replacement Framework battery is about the same as buying any other laptop’s replacement battery. I’ve replaced 4 different laptops’ batteries in the past 5 years, and the Framework was the second easiest (after the Thinkpad that you literally just slide the battery out of), but even the most difficult one wasn’t that hard. So as far as hassle, I’d say the worst offender still isn’t that bad.
Thinkpad (unknown model, slide out mechanism, no need to open chassis)
Framework 13 (chassis easy to open, unscrew old battery, screw in new one, easy connector)
Acer Spin 5 (basically the same as the Framework, but you have to pry the chassis a little)
Dell XPS (unknown model, chassis much harder to get into, but once in, basically the same as Framwork and Acer)
There’s 18650s and similar standard cells. Many laptop batteries used to be collections of standard cells back in the day - they could be again.
My complaint about laptop batteries isn’t their ease of replacement (which has been declining over the decades), but rather their cost. That cost is driven in large part by their specific application - they’ve got it, you want it, and there’s little or no supplier competition…
Ah, ok. Well I don’t think Framework has done much in the way of cost. The 13’s battery is listed on their site for $70, so it’s about on par with other battery replacements, if not a bit more expensive.
Yeah, Framework is a bit over a barrel on cost - never going to be able to compete until they get volumes up. It’s an impossible thing: can’t lower prices because volume is too low, can’t increase volume because prices are too high.
I’m not sure that there’s any such thing as a “generic laptop battery”. They’re still made to fit one or maybe a handful of models. AFAICT, buying a replacement Framework battery is about the same as buying any other laptop’s replacement battery. I’ve replaced 4 different laptops’ batteries in the past 5 years, and the Framework was the second easiest (after the Thinkpad that you literally just slide the battery out of), but even the most difficult one wasn’t that hard. So as far as hassle, I’d say the worst offender still isn’t that bad.
Batteries just aren’t that hard to replace.
There’s 18650s and similar standard cells. Many laptop batteries used to be collections of standard cells back in the day - they could be again.
My complaint about laptop batteries isn’t their ease of replacement (which has been declining over the decades), but rather their cost. That cost is driven in large part by their specific application - they’ve got it, you want it, and there’s little or no supplier competition…
Ah, ok. Well I don’t think Framework has done much in the way of cost. The 13’s battery is listed on their site for $70, so it’s about on par with other battery replacements, if not a bit more expensive.
Yeah, Framework is a bit over a barrel on cost - never going to be able to compete until they get volumes up. It’s an impossible thing: can’t lower prices because volume is too low, can’t increase volume because prices are too high.