I prefer to be able to use it while I’m waiting for the replacement unit to arrive.
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Update: Support got back to me and said they wanted to replace the laptop. I’m mostly happy with this but it’s dissatisfying because this doesn’t tell me if they’ve isolated and fixed the core issue.
They seem to be dodging the question when I ask about the cracking. I’ve asked if they have determined the root cause and I’ll update if they say anything back, I don’t think they will though.
My strategy with the new laptop is to only tighten the screws the minimum amount to hold the case together. Framework has not given me any confidence that any replacement I get won’t be faulty as well. It took them sending me 3 input covers for my 13 to get one that finally worked and they had to hand test the last one before sending it after I requested it.
I find it off putting that Framework is replacing machines and dodging questions about the problems with them. Almost seems like they still don’t know whats wrong and they’re trying to keep people happy while they work on a fix that will potentially take a case redesign (aka months or a year.) That or support is just very uncoordinated. They’ve asked me several duplicate questions which would indicate they don’t read the email thread further back than one message.
TLDR: Support is replacing my laptop. Still no word on why cracks appear.
Crazy Conspiracy theory: Framework is trying to continue selling these under the hope that not enough people will notice. They plan to quietly fix the issue in a Gen 2 case redesign in the future to avoid halting production and sales. After all, this is just one little thread with like 18 effected people. Most either don’t know or don’t care. (This is further reinforced by the fact that they’ve been bragging about their record breaking production volume which they plan to further increase.)
2nd Update: This is what they said:
Confirmed they still don’t know. Understandable. Please ignore my crazy conspiracy theory. I think support is likely just a bit scrambled, which I get.
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Agree. Communication is not their strong suit. I didn’t even bother to ask about anything and just answered all their questions.
It’s understandable that they are still determining the root cause. Just hope they have figured it out and fixed before my replacement unit ships. From what I can tell it seems like my replacement unit was created like a new order and put within the next regular batch that will ship in a month or two.
My biggest fear is that the issue is not yet resolved and I’ll get a unit that is worse off than the one I have right now. But we’ll see once we get there.
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Yeah me too, Fingers crossed I guess.
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I’m in batch 9 so not got mine yet, but I’ve been quietly stalking this for very obvious reasons.
Conspiracy, I do agree but only because what else can they do? Unlikely that they already knew this might be an issue before so right now it’s a triage case for them to gather enough evidence to find one or many root causes to understand how it can be resolved.
I’d be VERY interested in the ratio of failing cases, but the issue is that it’s only going to be obvious retrospectively, this is on fire right now and most of the issues wont have happened yet.
So, quietly thinking about this more and more and without one in my hands to see how the material feels, I wonder if this is either a temperature ramps thing in the injection moulding or an effect of the overcasting of the secondary material causing the original ABS to become unstable meaning internal torsional pressures of the screws in the metal inserts ABS mouldings then causes the ABS to fracture.
The one thing that I’m actually worried about is the need to still ship back whole units.. That speaks to me that they still don’t have enough units to know if this is a tolerance issue on the mounting locations, screw lengths being slightly out of tolerance or any other issues, that for me is the first triage gate. I hope it’s just an occasional case moulding issue and the default response on validated cracking issue becomes ‘ship a new case out’.
As someone who is patently aware of this issue and still waiting for theirs I’m clearly happy to take the risk and even if my case ends up being faulty dealing with whatever that looks like.
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Just this moment got a notification that my replacement unit has shipped. Although my account order section shows a later batch it seems to have been fast-tracked, contrary to my initial assumption.
I’ll refrain from any more speculation, as that does not help anyone. Wish Framework did explain better what their progress in their investigation was and what course of action they have decided on for now.
Must emphasize - outstanding support so far - except the lack of overall information. Hope this can all be resolved without hurting them too much and still making everyone whole.
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Yeah for me its been very slow and repetitive but some of the best support I’ve had from any company. I Wish other companies were this good. *cough* Asus.
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my batch 5 sage has stress lines around both screws on the bottom-front corners, nothing too concerning, pretty much purely cosmetic so far, but…I’d only had it 5 days when I noticed them, and reality has not left me much time to actually use it in those 5 days(or at all since for that matter)…haven’t filed a support ticket yet, and when I do I’m probably going to ask them to put me at the bottom of the pile…as long as they get to me eventually, it’s cool, and I’d rather have a final fix than fifteen failed fixes.
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Would be interesting to know how the pre build units look on arrival….
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Yes. I’m getting one. I’m in batch 9. So we will see. I hope it’s going to be OK, of course.
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Support is replacing my whole unit as well. Mine had an additional issue where the touchpad was not disabling when i put the pc into tablet mode (under Windows 11), so i think they wanted to examine my input cover in addition to the chassis.
received a replacement laptop today, the cracked one is packaged and has a label on it but unfortunately i wasn’t able to drop it off today, it’ll have to wait till monday as no UPS places pick up parcels over the weekend :<
the new laptop is without any crack or mark on it, the trackpad is slightly misaligned in the same direction as the previous one, but not nearly as much so physical click works properly.
i assume they haven’t changed anything about the laptops yet while they’re investigating and therefore this one is also susceptible to developing those cracks, so i left the screws a little lose to see if that changes anything.
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Just got mine about an hour ago; no cracks.
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There’s an interesting thread on Reddit. One user has four, another has 30 FW 12s. None of them have found cracking, and I specifically referenced this thread when I asked them about it.
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That’s encouraging. Hopefully it’s not as widespread as it seems.
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My replacement bottom cover was delivered. I transferred all components and sent back the cracked bottom cover.
The guide for the bottom cover replacement doesn’t seem to be available yet (the URL on the inside of the bottom cover currently redirects to a 404 guide page). I just followed the guide for the mainboard and then removed the hinges. Was a simple process since all the components except the hinges have captive screws.
I noticed when taking out the mainboard that the cracks I had at the expansion slot corners are visible on the inside and extend directly toward the mainboard standoffs on both sides.
EDIT: After replacing the bottom cover without a guide I find ifixit already has a guide. But their guide currently doesn’t mention that you need to transfer over the speakers.
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Notably, the topic wasn’t about cracks and neither of them mention actually having looked for such.
The Reddit thread in question: I just canceled my Batch 9 FW 12 preorder : framework
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Thanks for pasting the link. I was just about to edit my post. True, they did not go looking for the issue.
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How long do they have the notebooks in use? (30 ? Omg 
)
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The user with 30? A month.