Honestly it's quite his fault by choosing the XPS 13, an ultra portable. Take the XPS 15, it's the best compromise between portability and repairability. I have a 9750 or something and chose it because it was just the most repairable laptop at the time. You could replace ram and disk for sure, but also buy new fans directly from Dell, or new hinges, a new battery, a motherboard, you name it. Remove a few screws and you have access to everything, easy to mount and dismount.

So no, the company didn't force him, he just went for portability.