Easily upgradeable laptops are making a comeback, and I’m here for it!

I still remember when my 2007 Macbook’s battery started to swell after a few years of use, I could just order a replacement part, pop out the old part, plug in the new one, and my laptop was back in perfect condition.

This repairability and upgradeability has declined over the years. From Android phones to laptops to every other electronic gadget, companies have been taking the easy and most profitable way out. Pack up the specs you want, glue and weld everything together so it’s nearly impossible to repair without a trip to an expensive service center. He also discourages everyone from upgrading on their own, lest they ruin the equipment they just bought.

After all, if you can charge hundreds of dollars for a small RAM or storage spec boost, why would you let the average Joe buy it for much less and install it himself in minutes?

But with the rise of right-to-repair laws in the U.S. and Europe, and as customers become more environmentally aware and more aware of the sheer rip-offs of preset RAM and storage configurations, upgradeable laptops are slowly making a comeback.

Take the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 and T16 Gen 3 as an example. Both were built from the ground up based on insights from iFixit, which has been advocating for everyone’s right to repair technology for years. The benefits of this collaboration became very clear to me when I opened the case back.

Every component I saw had a QR code and label sticker on top. You can scan the file to see the exact part and number, along with a link to order a replacement and iFixit instructions and videos on how to replace it. (Some of the images here have universal links as this is not the final unit.)

There is an arrow pointing to the exact screw you need to open to remove any part, so you don’t mess things up by removing other parts. It reminded me of when I took my Fairphone 5 apart; these arrows were a huge help in taking everything apart and putting it back together in less than 20 minutes.

Many components, from the battery with wireless connector to the SSD, WWAN, RAM, trackpad, and more, can be easily replaced or upgraded. that’s all. Just like you would do with your home computer. Need more RAM or more storage after a year or two of use? Just buy and install. No need to buy another laptop to upgrade these basic specs.

This earned both Lenovo laptop lines a 9.3 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit. Almost perfect.

What impressed me most, though, was how easy it was to pop out the keyboard. Because yes, even that is replaceable. Turn the laptop over, twist the two screws on the bottom, then flip it back to pop out the keyboard. Da da!

Really, when it all seems so good and so easy, why doesn’t anyone else do it?

I know the answer, you know the answer, everyone knows the answer. But I’m glad to see this kind of user-friendly design making a comeback. It shouldn’t be a headline or even a prominent feature, it should just be the norm. But we live in an age where it’s become so difficult to upgrade and repair the gear you already own that it’s almost always easier to buy new equipment.

Thanks to poor laptop and phone design over the past decade or so, more plastic and precious metals are ending up in landfills around the world. We’re just getting things back on track now. I bet adopting these improvements will take more time than adopting a fully sealed laptop. That’s convenient, but it’s bad for the bottom line.

Lenovo did the right thing and built a laptop that will stand the test of time, which is great for us.