Lenovo also owns the Motorola phone brand, and they're going to adopt/allow GrapheneOS. I think they know how to grab customers right now, and I honestly like it.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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They're usually also well supported on Linux, and even sell them with Ubuntu and Fedora pre-installed. Generally not a terrible brand.
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Happy for them, I'm sure the 100 people that still can afford computers will appreciate it.
Thinkpads are usually acquired as enterprise retire their stock, 2 or 3 year old devices for a fraction of the new price.
Thinkpads are generally invredibly cheap due to scale. You can also refurbished last years model for under 400 usd.
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Just a lil nitpick: article is by iFixit who is a Lenovo business partner. So perhaps less objective than one might hope.
It seems to me that Lenovo’s repairably is more affected by that iFixit partnership than the opposite. I don’t see anything factually wrong or suspicious in the article.
I use iFixit's guides all the time, so I would hope that their score isn't affected by it. I've seen them as being fairly good at their role.
As someone who has changed a laptop keyboard before.
That picture says it all.
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Nice to see this pop up as Apple announce their 5yr plan to flood the world's landfills & scrap yards with 8gb fused ram Neo's.
Hasn't Apple been soldering everything to the motherboard for ages now?
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Is there a version that doesn't have the AI cuntery baked into it?
One thing to highlight: T-series Lenovo laptops are mainstream business products shipped at a huge scale.
This is not a small-scale experimental product for the tinkerers. This may define the biggest laptop segment if it works out well. It might be the first time in a while that something like this hits such a huge market.
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Yes, but if you are running Windows on them, do they still inject Chinese state-sponsored malware into Windows on every boot from UEFI/BIOS storage?
They were caught doing this on several occasions, to the point where Lenovo products are forbidden across significant swaths of the U.S. government and military.
Err... were they? I remember vulnerabilities and a ban from SOME of the US gov agencies, but not clear if it was because of spying concerns or because they wanted a US supplier.
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Ok but how long is it going to be supported? If they abandon the idea its just a particularly expensive regular laptop, even if they keep supporting it you're locked into ThinkPads ecosystem. It's not truly repairable until its a standard that doesn't rely on the benevolence of a single company.
What ecosystem? pretty sure the "ecosystem" is standardized computer parts for thinkpads.
So to go down the bullet point list:
- Swappable battery: I'm going to assume its a generic battery and therefore the best possible option here since I know some (a lot of) laptops have weird proprietary batteries. Point for Thinkpad.
- Industry standard m.2: Even notebooks can do this.
- Easy keyboard replacement: This looks like a lock in? Of the laptops I've seen where you can swap the keyboard, which is actually quite a few but in a really dodgy looking way, the keyboards look very different from this. Point for looking WAY easier but might take it away again if this keyboard really is proprietary.
- Swappable memory: I'll give you that many notebooks solder this in but its easy to find a regular laptop with swappable memory.
- Streamlined display repairs: Much like the keyboard this looks awesome and WAY less jank than normal way you have to do it but it also looks like a proprietary part.
- Modular cooling system: I don't really know enough to say on this one, most laptops have a cooling system you can take out with similar form factors but I doubt they'd work well with random parts from other machines, then again I doubt this laptop would work well with random parts from other laptops either so your still probably locked into buying the correct one from ThinkPad.
- Modular ports: This is actually pretty awesome, though again where else am I even going to get these modular ports.
Ultimately its still good, the stuff that's already common has been made way easier and some new options have opened up for repair and replacement, I can't really blame thinkpad for being the only ones providing this hardware when they're the only ones making a laptop that would use it in the first place, its still an ecosystem lock in to a degree though even if its not an intentional one. It would be nice to see some competition in the space.
Yeah, it is still a laptop in the end. More repairable than most but still a laptop. I just had a problem with the "ecosystem" wording as this is best used to describe unrepairable pieces of crap that refuses third party parts (looking at you, Apple).
Thinkpads had 3rd party replacement parts for the last 20 years.
Perhaps do some homework. ThinkPad have dominated in business for decades for good reason
Think-pad? Pshh, a momentary gimmick.
(My very first laptop was a ThinkPad with 256mb of RAM, 100 years ago. My current laptop is a ThinkPad with 32gb of ram)
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.
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Does the ram comes with a torque key?
Who needs catalytic converters with all this RAM around?
the ram slots need those wire mesh cages for catalytic converters
They got scared by Framework sucess
Well, good...
Though reparability is a good part of it, another would be a concrete commitment that the form factor of various things will be consistent generation to generation, that Gen 8 boards will fit into a current laptop.
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Exactly, but it still won't get them my money. I believe in rewarding companies who had the balls to listen to their customers first with my dollars. Framework will be my next laptop no matter what any other competitor comes out with.
They're the only reason we're seeing any company starting to u-turn and make modular/repairable laptops.
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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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Lenovo not dropping the ball on their thinkpad reputation but improving it. Very impressive
They still don't seem anywhere near as rugged as the tanks that were the IBM thinkpads and Early Lenovo Thinkpads. Which is a shame. The OG thinkpads were some of the best built laptops there were. Still better than some of the other cheap crap that passes for a laptop these days, but still a shell of its former glory.
I have a lower end, but capable gaming laptop. R7, 1Tb Nvme, 32Gb, RTX.... It is easy to open, service, expandable, with space for a SATA 2.5, for example. Spill proof, lighted kbd, etc.
It's kind of built like an old school ThinkPad. A tank.
And that's why I'm getting rid of it.
The thing IS a tank.
I really use it as a laptop, I do onsite stuff, so I lug this thing around all day. Many use these as "transportable". I don't, I have a beefy workstation at home, so the laptop generally lives in its backpack.
So, for me, a professional grade, light but sturdy, and repairable machine is just what the doctor ordered.
If you need rugged, some gamer laptops are pretty tough and accessible, but you will pay the chunk tax.
If you REALLY want rugged, get a proper ruggedized laptop, and carry it around.
We’re so back
Literally. Repairability used to be expected.
That's nice you can replace the charging port without reflowing the motherboard now.
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