Seems like you haven't actually looked into it if that's the impression you got, because both Thinkpad (X1) and Framework (13) make a laptop that fit your requirements. The X1 carbon even offers a 4k OLED option if you want it.
I held out on Mac for 20 yrs, no idea what I was thinking.
I spent weeks last year trying to decide what to get to replace a MBP M2, and while Lenovo's offering was good for enterprise consumers, there was very few laptops with decent perfs and HiDPI screen in a practical form factor.
I think for anyone not caring about gaming perf, the Microsoft Surface line is way ahead of anything Lenovo has to offer.
For better perf Asus had a better lineup, and we get form factors like the X13 or Z13 which are just excelent in day to day use (now if only they made 32 or 64G a standard option for all their "gaming" machines I'd have no notes).
I kept a mac for backup, but am seriously waiting for Apple to make more drastic moves (finally a real iPad computer ?) before ever going back.
I say 2012 is the dividing line because that's when they released the Yoga, which was a big step in a new direction. I actually owned multiple Yogas, and didn't hate some of them, but they had nothing in common with Thinkpads. In 2012 they also released the X230, which was more locked down than the X220, which the enthusiast community hated. The decline after 2012 was sort of slow - I bought a T440p (released 2014) after my X230 got stolen and I found it was pretty decent, certainly pretty durable - but Lenovo's main focus had clearly shifted towards the new and shiny.
These days they're just another Windows laptop OEM, which is to say: built and engineered like crap, weirdly expensive for what you get, horribly ugly, software full of ads and spyware and AI bullshit, disposable after a few years. The M1 Air was released 5 years ago this year and I still use two on a daily basis for serious tasks; I'll probably be using them years into the future too. They're not really repairable, but they do last. Any five year old Windows laptop is slow as a dog, has small plastic parts breaking off of it, looks somehow even shittier than it did originally, and of course is full of adware and garbage.
Anyway, that's all to say: yes, in 2025 Lenovo is overhyped, but that's just reputational inertia from many years where they were genuinely good.
Thanks!
Look the modularity and repairability is nice, and I like how it addresses e-waste. However regarding modularity, I would rather have more fixed ports than a choice of changeable ones.
My biggest gripe is battery life, in Linux I can only seem to get 4 hours of usage and that's if I'm lucky. More like 2.5 to 3 hours, and that's usually minimal usage.
My second biggest gripe is the hinges in the laptop. WHen I pick up the laptop with the screen erect at the 90 degree position, it usually falls flat 180 degrees. How this even got past QA annoys me, and the fix is to buy a new hinge kit, but that costs $30 AUD plus $40 AUD shipping, so basically a ripoff.
The keyboard is actually quite decent, but I would've preferred Macbook layout with the fn on the left and half-size inverted T arrow keys. I was hoping a 3rd party would make the keyboard, but the reality is not many 3rd parties are making FW stuff.
The modular ports can be erratic when powering on the laptop, sometimes a usb port doesn't register and I have to eject and reinsert the modular ports, which is annoying.
The display is fine, except mine developed a thin grey line that's noticeable when the pixels aren't lit up. I take care of my laptop carefully, but I feel like this display is weaker than most. Thankfully it's not noticeable when the screen is bright. I also find the screen overly glossy that I had to buy a matte screen protector and apply it, but I believe in newer models you can get a matte display.
The webcam is fine. The speakers are trash. The mic is okay. The trackpad is okayish (for what you can get out of Linux anyways).
Just feels mediocre all around.
> everything I want in a sleek 14" or 15" device
The X1 carbon we have in our house has a 13” 16:9 screen, which I hate.
Or pick up a Framework 13 which has a 13.5" 2880x1800 16:10 screen: https://frame.work/products/laptop-diy-13-gen-amd/configurat...
Ah, that is an excellent improvement!
The worst problem is they are Intel-only so I moved to T14s which is not as polished (their premium AMD option is too MacBook-like with sharp edges and worse keyboard in Z13 or something), yet AMD is much closer to Macs on thermals, battery life and performance.
It feels plasticky (magnesium chassis T/P-series belong to the ages) but it's a damn sight more computer than I could get from Apple for that money. Well, apart from the battery life, RAM bandwidth, OS-hardware integration, and build quality. It's more RAM than I could get from Apple for that money, for sure.
The battery live is the Macs killer feature. Not sure if it would be ass good with Asahi. I'm not using MacOS.
The Apple build quality is good, but I honestly do not like to handle to cold slippy smooth aluminum body.
I shall take a good lesson from your case and keep my ThinkPad in its Pelican case whenever I'm not using it. Can't afford to be laptopless for months!
OTOH Macbook Air not only runs cool even when you build stuff on it, but somehow manages to do so without any fans.
The ThinkPad X1 and Framework 13 have a much lower resolution display. Also, I appreciate Framework’s mission, but it’s not the build quality that I’m looking for.
This is a thing right? You come back to your computer, and it’s exactly as you left it. It didn’t try to magically reboot because of overnight updates, it didn’t prevent you from starting a program because it phoned home to the mothership and it told them that particular dev hasn’t forked over their $100 yet. It’ll tell you there are updates and ask if you want to install them.
It’s such a relief to work on something not windows or mac in so many ways.
If you choose the custom build route some even can ship with Fedora or Ubuntu, so presumably Linux support is reasonable.
There are also plenty of other P-series thinkpads that you can get with 2 TB or more storage: P14s, P16, P16v