It wouldn't be difficult to make Lenovo laptops more repairable. I've had two, and both required taking the whole thing apart to replace the keyboard, the part most likely to have problems. I hate that about them.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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There's a difference between 'repairable' and 'upgradable.' Most of the comments seem to conflate the two. Lenovo isn't doing a Framework.
It's a smart move. Differentiates them from other laptop-makers for corporate IT, who can do the parts swaps themselves. Also smart is associating the brand with iFixit and working to get a 10/10. That'll be what sets them apart from all the others, at least for the next year or two.
The "upgradability" part in a small laptop is questionable to me, anyway.
The GPU is really compromised in that chassis, as having it in a slot compromises cooling big time, and limits how much power it can use. And while I love upgradable RAM for the CPU... it'd be better if they used faster CAMM modules. Many other brands have upgradable SSDs/WiFi.
Swappable ports are awesome, no question.
...But honestly, I'd rather have a smaller chassis, bigger GPU and better cooling right off the bat, like a Zephyrus chassis. And have it reparable, and make the whole motherboard standardized/swappable, but not compromise the chassis so severely by making it modular.
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We’re so back
Literally. Repairability used to be expected.
The issue I had with my previous Lenovo Thinkpad wasn't that it wasn't repairable when it broke, it was. The issue was that the cost of just replacing the keyboard was prohibitively high. Higher than the cost of a new laptop. So it became e-waste.
Does 10/10 mean it's got RAM and drives accessible without needing to disassemble the whole fucking thing?
Nice to see both aren't soldered onto the motherboard, but we've still gone backwards in the last 20 years.
Back in the day every screw on thinkpads had a series of little symbols on them to tell you which ones you needed to undo in order to get to the ram, storage, keyboard, and fans. Without needing a repair manual. I hope they brought that back!
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without needing to disassemble the whole fucking thing
well you still need to take the bottom cover off
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Ooh yes baby! As an early Framework adopter who's repaired it already a few times, including a solder job on the board, I am happy to see it. I am getting increasingly angsty about where Framework would go in the future as its VCs crank up the profit knob. Having the biggest real manufacturer in the world introduce an alternative is fantastic. With that said, it also depends on Lenovo actually making parts direct-for-purchase available at decent prices. Without that, repairability serves just as marketing wank.
E: Is that a magnesium body plate?
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Could they please cooperate with Framework and create Universal Joints?
At a guess, such cooperation would undermine Lenovo's profit margin and would thus be a non-starter for them.
Enter government regulation, to pinch corporations by the ear and drag them to doing what's right for society.
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That's nice you can replace the charging port without reflowing the motherboard now.
Our business stopped buying them completely after they fucked us around with the USBC port burnouts and didn't acknowledge it, I know it's not a huge amount but they will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales from us
So many laptops just wasted before they patched it
Get repairability too bad they start at 1200 USD
That's a pretty standard starting price for a decent laptop. Or at least it was a few years ago.
I tend to buy T-series laptops once they are about 5 years old, and still have tons of life left in them.
I'll probably be looking for a T14 Gen 2 this year. Nothing wrong with my T495 'cept that my kid spilled water on it but fortunately only killed the hall sensor.
In fact, I thought the laptop was dead but I. Noticed a little corrosion on the hall sensor board, unplugged it, laptop started right up.
And it's still got plenty of life in it to hand down to my kid for Minecraft and such.
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I've been a ThinkPad user for about 4 years now, got a second-hand T470s running Fedora. It's been an amazing experience! I'm not one for brand loyalty, but (so long as Lenovo doesn't fuck them up) ThinkPads will always be my first choice for a laptop.
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