purchasehelp Framework 16 vs MPB 16

ShimmyTheDev · April 3, 2025

Hello everyone, that's my first post here so I'll introduce myself.

I'm Shimmy, a Test Automation Engineer from Berlin. After my 9-5 I'm having my web development side-hustle and trying to build a 3D game with my friends (Something like Hades but in more open-ish world) in Unity. From hobbies I'm also doing a bit of photography and light video editing (mostly dev logs for the game).

Currently I'm using Lenovo Legion 5 82JU (Ryzen 75800H + RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB + 32 GB RAM). But it's out of warranty, screen starts to have retention even after an hour of usage so I think it's time to get a new one and keep current as a backup or connect to the TV and use as a Steam Deck.

I was leaning towards Framework 16 - freedom of upgrade or repair, linux first - but I've learned that current 180W charger won't let me reach full potential of the GPU. Also I'd like to go for Linux in this case and I know that I will have problems with scaling - On my Legion I need to have around 150% of scaling which is not working in Unity (I can scale it with environmental variables but it needs to be 200% and it makes the interface too big), and framework got almost the same screen resolution.

On the other hand we have a MacBook which is a total opposite of framework - but hear me out, I don't think it's all bad. I'm using Mac at my 9-5 and what I like is rigidity, screen (duh!), battery life and speakers. I've asked the IT Team to unlock software installation so I can load up unity example project so I can see performance and the interface and I was happy with that. But then... It's a Apple product, big middle finger to you if you want to fix it or upgrade, software locks me out of games (I'm not a gamer and keeping my Legion for that purpose, but I got used to my laptop to be able to do everything). Configuration I'm going for would be base 16" Pro model M4 Pro 14‑Core CPU 20-Core GPU 48 GB of Unified Memory.

I don't really know what to do. I've found out that for ~the same price as Mac I could have a Lenovo P series with 4060 but then these ones are loud as hell.

If here's someone who could help me decide. Maybe someone who's trying to develop 3D game in Unity and can tell me: HEY THAT SUCKS or MAC IS GREAT, I'd be grateful.

Thank you in advance and good to be a part of this community after watching LTT for like 8 years now.

Eltos · April 3, 2025

10 hours ago, ShimmyTheDev said:

Hello everyone, that's my first post here so I'll introduce myself.

I'm Shimmy, a Test Automation Engineer from Berlin. After my 9-5 I'm having my web development side-hustle and trying to build a 3D game with my friends (Something like Hades but in more open-ish world) in Unity. From hobbies I'm also doing a bit of photography and light video editing (mostly dev logs for the game).

Currently I'm using Lenovo Legion 5 82JU (Ryzen 75800H + RTX 3060 Mobile 6GB + 32 GB RAM). But it's out of warranty, screen starts to have retention even after an hour of usage so I think it's time to get a new one and keep current as a backup or connect to the TV and use as a Steam Deck.

I was leaning towards Framework 16 - freedom of upgrade or repair, linux first - but I've learned that current 180W charger won't let me reach full potential of the GPU. Also I'd like to go for Linux in this case and I know that I will have problems with scaling - On my Legion I need to have around 150% of scaling which is not working in Unity (I can scale it with environmental variables but it needs to be 200% and it makes the interface too big), and framework got almost the same screen resolution.

On the other hand we have a MacBook which is a total opposite of framework - but hear me out, I don't think it's all bad. I'm using Mac at my 9-5 and what I like is rigidity, screen (duh!), battery life and speakers. I've asked the IT Team to unlock software installation so I can load up unity example project so I can see performance and the interface and I was happy with that. But then... It's a Apple product, big middle finger to you if you want to fix it or upgrade, software locks me out of games (I'm not a gamer and keeping my Legion for that purpose, but I got used to my laptop to be able to do everything). Configuration I'm going for would be base 16" Pro model M4 Pro 14‑Core CPU 20-Core GPU 48 GB of Unified Memory.

I don't really know what to do. I've found out that for ~the same price as Mac I could have a Lenovo P series with 4060 but then these ones are loud as hell.

If here's someone who could help me decide. Maybe someone who's trying to develop 3D game in Unity and can tell me: HEY THAT SUCKS or MAC IS GREAT, I'd be grateful.

Thank you in advance and good to be a part of this community after watching LTT for like 8 years now.

I love the framework machines, but is there a reason why these two are the only options? If so, then does 180W matter that much on a laptop? It seems like it might be enough...

At this point, you would really know if you want a Mac or not. I think it would be folly, though, to think that Unity is going to work just as well on a Macbook as a Framework laptop.

ShimmyTheDev · April 4, 2025

17 hours ago, Eltos said:

I love the framework machines, but is there a reason why these two are the only options? If so, then does 180W matter that much on a laptop? It seems like it might be enough...

At this point, you would really know if you want a Mac or not. I think it would be folly, though, to think that Unity is going to work just as well on a Macbook as a Framework laptop.

Hi! Thanks for reply!

So FW and MBP are not the only choices but I'm a bit distanced to the quality of Gaming laptops these days, especially after screen retention in my Legion.

Donut417 · April 5, 2025

13 hours ago, ShimmyTheDev said:

Hi! Thanks for reply!

So FW and MBP are not the only choices but I'm a bit distanced to the quality of Gaming laptops these days, especially after screen retention in my Legion.

I have the last generation of the Intel MacBook Pro. The screen is nice, that one thing I first noticed about the laptop.

As far as framework vs Apple it really comes down to do you want to use Linux/Windows or MacOS? MacOS is nice but does have its own issues like all other OS's. Such as the lack of Window management, there are 3rd party apps but it's not built in. The only other issue with Mac is going to potentially be capability with all of your software, you will need to check. You can use software like Parallels to run Windows or Linux VM's but it's going to cost you. The Apple tax is real. The best feature in my opinion is if you have an iPhone. Because you get your calls and texts on your Mac.

In regaurds to Framework. Not only the repairability but the fact you can upgrade the platform, at least on the last few generations you could. In regaurds to Linux, its very usable if you know what your doing.