AMD chipsets have SoundWire, and MIPI CSI/DSI support, but there are no way to use them in Windows. Intel is starting to support them as well with Alder Lake mobile.
SoundWire is way simpler than HDA, and availability/cost is better.
Connecting the whole suite of peripherals over i2c allows to dispose of wide LIF cable from the front panel. No LPC EC needed.
MIPI CSI cameras are vastly superior to USB ones, and are dirt chip for price/picture quality due to the size of smartphone market.
Tablet use MIPI DSI panels price/quality is superior to LVDS panels, and you will never get such thin laptop-use panels.
Linux can use non-SMBus battery gauges, and PMICs. Again, you can forego paying the x86 premium on SMBus vs. i2c controlled PMICs.
A production linux laptop is a clear statement, "All of our hardware is immediately compatible with linux. Sure, our distro has little warts, but you can either install your own or `apt-get install fluxbox`, copy in your config files, and get right to work, ISL."
The actual important thing is that all their hardware has Linux drivers.
Most laptops that achieve that require the hardware, OS and browser working together. I've seen laptops that, when running Linux, struggle to last through an hour-long video call.